A Feline's Fancy
by T'Kirr
Summary: TenRose. The 10th Doctor is captured by catkind and struggles with the boredom of being a house pet--but where is Rose, and what mystery is hiding just out of sight? Entirely from the Doctor's perspective. Cover art available through homepage link.
1. Shock

A Feline's Fancy  
Rating: T  
Summary: TenRose. The 10th Doctor is captured by cat people and struggles with the boredom of being a house pet. Entirely from the Doctor's perspective. Rated T for later chapters. I started this ages ago... figured I should probably finish it before the Doctor regenerates...

COVER ART available through my deviantart (homepage link).

Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, Rose, the TARDIS, or sadly not even a sonic screwdriver. I'll give 'em back when I'm done, promise! I just wanna play with 'em a bit.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

He was in a cage. The Doctor, now fully awake, pushed off the dirty concrete floor, twisting around to better see his surroundings. There was movement through the vertical bars, but his attention was quickly diverted to the sensitivity of his skin in direct contact with everything it shouldn't be had he been properly clothed. All he had on was a pair of simple black shorts. Judging by his current situation, he guessed he was lucky to have even that. As he shifted, he could feel cold metal atop his collarbone. It was a thin hoop about his neck. Wonder what that was for?

"Yeah, I got him in a couple of hours ago," a gruff voice said from outside the cell.

The Doctor looked up to see someone at a small, clinical white counter. The side of the counter was facing him, and he could see its occupant's profile was sat on a simple black stool. The Doctor studied the man. He'd seen that race before...

"Dunno, I think he'll probably sell as a stud. Looks a bit thin for labor, though."

Was this guy talking about him? The Doctor got to his feet, indignant. "Oi..." The man at the counter, having been talking to some sort of screen, turned to him. The Doctor then placed the confused face.

He was a cat. Or rather, a cat person, of the same race as the cat nurses on New Earth. He was a dusty brown with stripes of black on his ears, face, and down his forearms. A sort of one-piece uniform of a dark grey hid most of his fur from view. If he were close enough, the Doctor knew he'd have to resist the temptation to reach out and stroke his furry face, even if he didn't particularly like any sort of cats. Bad experience.

The Doctor was all cheer. "Right. I don't suppose you've come across a brown suit, all stripey--yours are quite lovely, by the way--with a long brown coat? Lot of brown, really."

"How the bloody hell do you know Rudeese?" the cat man said incredulously.

"Eh," the Doctor pouted and sniffed, assuming offense. "A simple 'no' would've sufficed."

The cat man grabbed for something at the counter and, suddenly, there was nothing but white-hot pain searing his neck, and the Doctor couldn't pull in a breath. His vision narrowed to pinpricks, and as it began to clear, he found he was on his knees, grasping the metal hoop around his neck. He then understood he couldn't breathe in because he was already holding a breath in. He coughed it out violently.

"I can't have that," the cat man grumbled. "You'll never sell if you're always goin' on like that. No jabberin', you understand?"

The Doctor, outraged, wanted to shout and tell the mangy cat off, but barely stopped himself. And what did he mean he was for sale? What was this?

The cage had four sides of vertical bars. The Doctor was facing the side of the counter, which hugged one white wall with its other side. To his right, the cage sat flush with another cell, appearing to be the same size as his. Beyond it, there was no wall. It appeared to be a street, as he could see cat people passing by. Behind him was an empty space before another white wall, and to his left was the street again.

He was in some kind of shoppe.

"Everything okay over there, Vicks?"

"Fine, fine," said the cat man, apparently 'Vicks', sounding anything but fine. He climbed back onto his stool to face the screen. "Just that new male mucking about. Had to put him in his place."

The Doctor missed the rest of the conversation. He was in a panic. Where was Rose? His cage was empty but for a raised tray of water attached to the corner nearest the street, a pile of blankets lining the bars shared with the other cage, and next to it in the corner opposite the water was a small structure, like a doghouse. There was one just like it in the other cage. Did they connect? Could he go through it into the other cell?

Approaching the covered box, the Doctor found only a crude toilet inside. No way through. Peering into the other cage, his eyes caught on a small figure huddled in the far corner, buried in its own pile of blankets. Was it Rose?

After grasping the bars and having a better look, the Doctor saw it was not Rose, and his spirits fell. It was a girl, a bit younger than Rose perhaps, and smaller. She didn't appear to be paying him any attention at all. In fact, with her head facing away, she could even be asleep.

Rose was nowhere.

The Doctor turned towards Vicks, pinning him with a furious glare. "Where's Rose?" he thundered. "Where have you taken her?"

It was, of course, a mistake. As Vicks glared over at him, the Doctor barely had time to grab the bars and brace himself before the world again faded in blinding pain.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Doctor was pacing, fuming in anger. Vicks wasn't in any better of a mood, tapping a writing utensil on his desk and grumbling to himself. He had shocked the Doctor several more times with his little remote. The Doctor wondered if his neck had electricity burns where the hoop lay. It felt like it did, at least.

There were so many questions he needed to ask, but even the most important of words to come out of his mouth were treated with equal brutality. Vicks didn't care what he had to say at all.

His throat was dry and sore, but he refused to drink from the bowl of water. He briefly considered using it to soak his collar, but the thing was no doubt waterproof. Even if he were submerged in water and being shocked, it probably was close-circuited for safety.

Rose had to be all right. He had to tell himself she was all right. After all, it was Rose. Besides, they were wanted alive, not dead. Where could she have been taken? Why weren't they placed in the same cage since they had been captured at the same time?

There was another thing that bothered him. Since when did this race keep slaves? Had he forgotten something? The Doctor searched back through his mind the history of the species in relation to when the TARDIS had landed. Nope, no slaves.

He had taken Rose to Gestaapa to show her the sights. They were only going for the evening. Opening night at the system-famous Krup Katana show was legendary for decades afterwards. Fifteen deza beasts flying in syncronization, set against a triple star sunset, now _that_ was entertaining. He couldn't wait to see the wonder on Rose's face.

Before the show, they had strolled the marketplace around the theatre and had found a shoppe that sported shiny trinkets, which inevitably had caught Rose's eye. The Doctor had said he'd get her whichever she desired most, and Rose had browsed through them all. When the peddler had asked if they were seeing the show, Rose had happily stated they were. The peddler had offered to upgrade their tickets, which as the Doctor now thought about it, should have been the first warning to him that they should leave. He had flashed his psychic paper, claiming they already had the best seats in the house, and the peddler had suddenly brightened. He had exclaimed that the tickets were of insanely high value, and if he had known the two were accustomed to such finery, he would have offered Rose his shiniest deza statuette, which he kept securely locked away in the back.

The peddler had offered to show it to them, but it was locked up too securely to bring out, and he had invited them in to take a look. To the Doctor's credit, this _had_ appeared a bit dodgy, and he had been ready to pull Rose away from the shoppe. She had given him her doe eyes, however, and had promised she would make a quick decision right after they saw it. The excitement on her face had so closely mirrored the reaction he envisioned the show would induce that he had given in.

Inside, there had been no statuette.

The Doctor remembered only what had to be a violent blow to the head, and the blackness that followed.

No doubt, the "peddler" had confiscated his psychic paper and had planned to sell it before the show to the highest bidder. It had probably soon become clear that no tickets existed, and the man had apparently sold the Doctor and Rose into slavery. Were they still on Gestaapa?

Suddenly, there was a click, and the cage door bounced off its catch. Vicks got down from his stool and approached, grabbing a bar of the door and swinging it wide.

"Come on, then. Out you go."

The Doctor, having no desire to stay in the cage, obeyed. He looked to the street. Oh, if only he could just run out there and be free. It was so close, yet so far. The Doctor eyed Vicks' paw wearily. He was holding the shocker remote. If the Doctor tried to run, or even grab for the remote, he'd be shocked helpless. Attempting to knock Vicks out would accomplish just as little.

Violence was never his first choice. He could talk his way out of many situations, but now, he couldn't even try.

His most potent defense had been neutralised.

To the Doctor's surprise, the door of the other cage had been popped open, too. It was clear Vicks wanted him to enter. He supposed it made sense. Why let him out of his cage if he had nowhere else to go but into another cage? Maybe they were freeing it up for another arrival. Reluctantly, with a heated glare at Vicks, the Doctor shuffled inside the already occupied cell, and the door clicked shut behind him.

The girl was there at the opposite end, two bright blue eyes watching him from her pile of blankets. The Doctor wanted to greet her, but knew better and kept his mouth shut. On second thought, maybe Vicks wouldn't mind talk as long as the Doctor wasn't talking to him? He decided he'd rather not take the chance just yet.

Vicks sighed in what the Doctor assumed was relief. He was all a bustle of movement, appearing to be packing up. The Doctor looked to the street and noticed it was darker outside now. Sure enough, Vicks was soon walking out towards the street, bag slung over his shoulder. He paused just within view, facing the outside wall, and suddenly the space between walls flashed, accompanied by a zapping sound. The Doctor jumped, reacting as if he were expecting to be shocked, but realised it had only been a security field sealing the area off. Vicks walked away, out of view.

Shoppe closed.

The Doctor frowned. Why wouldn't he be allowed to stay in his own cell overnight? Maybe they delivered new arrivals in the wee hours, and Vicks wouldn't be there to move him. He breathed in a deep sigh and turned towards the girl. No reason he couldn't talk now, right?

"Hello."

The girl's eyes flicked over him disinterestedly. "Hi."

The Doctor grinned warmly, although felt a bit discomposed. "Please excuse the lack of dress. I'm the Doctor. What's your name?"

"Eli."

"Eli, lovely name. Nice to meet you, Eli. So, how'd you get stuck in here?"

Eli was fiddling with a frayed bit of blanket. "My last master didn't want me."

"Oh?" the Doctor said, showing his disbelief in his voice. As Eli crawled out of the blankets and moved closer, he could see her fully. She was wearing the same shorts he had on, with addition to a thick black band that covered her upper torso and flattened her chest. Simple slave attire, he guessed. "I doubt that. Why would anyone not want you?"

"Messed up the carpets."

The Doctor raised his head as if in understanding, then frowned. Wait, what? He pursed his lips, about to ask what she meant, when Eli, much closer now, advanced on him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He grabbed Eli's arms, keeping her away.

Eli looked him in the eye. "There's only one reason they'd put you in my cage."

The Doctor regarded her seriously. "And that reason would be?"

Eli looked at the Doctor as if he were daft. "To breed."

The Doctor was taken aback. Clearly, he had misinterpreted her look of disinterest. "No offense, but that's not going to happen."

The girl stilled, staring at him with curiousity. "I've never had anyone turn me down before." She frowned. "You'll get in trouble."

"I don't care. I don't have to do what they want. Neither do you."

"I want to," Eli shrugged in his grip.

The Doctor was confused. "You what?"

"Females with child get special treatment," Eli told him, her tone indicating it was common knowledge. "They don't have to do anything, and get to eat more."

The Doctor stared down at the poor girl, voice soft and sympathetic. "How long have you been like this, enslaved?"

"Since I was eight. Let go of me."

Eight years old. Swallowing a lump in his throat, the Doctor complied and released her wrists, watching her carefully to make sure she wouldn't jump him. "And..." he looked her over, "have you had a child yet?"

Eli crossed her arms and deadpanned, "Three."

The Doctor, mouth agape, breathed in slowly as he turned away, fighting a sudden sickness in his stomach. Since her children weren't with her, he assumed they were taken from her. Children raised in captivity had to make better slaves than ones that had tasted freedom. The poor thing was fully subdued and probably stopped fighting a long time ago, if she ever even had. A small sob made him turn back round, and he saw the girl was starting to cry. No, he wasn't looking at a girl, he was looking at a woman.

"Please?"

"I'm sorry, Eli," the Doctor told her in his most apologetic of tones. "You'll have to find some other way of getting by."

Resolution was plain on her face. "I won't leave you alone until you consent."

The Doctor, rising to the challenge, took charge. "How about we just talk instead, hey?" He looked over to the empty cage at the pile of blankets resting against the bars there and walked over to them. "Much more mannerly, I think."

Eli just stared at him as he began threading blankets through the bars. She didn't seem to know what to say. The Doctor piled them up in the middle of the cell and flopped down onto them, making himself comfortable.

"There, now," he announced with finality, "What shall we talk about?

"There's no point in talking," Eli muttered, seemingly more to herself than to him, as she returned to her own blanket pile.

"Oh, but it passes the time, doesn't it? Just as well as... well, nevermind. Where are you from?"

"Why does it matter where I'm from? I'm never going back."

"Oh I don't know. Who knows what your future holds in store for you? Besides, you must have fond memories that help you go on." The Doctor, hands behind his head as he reclined, watched her inward musing. "Parents? Siblings?"

"I'm sure they're dead," Eli all but spat out. Silence stretched between them as the Doctor just watched Eli, who watched her hands. She really had given up long ago.

"I'm sorry, Eli," said the Doctor finally and softly. "If there's anything I can do, well, short of--"

"I'm tired," she announced insincerely. Eli lay down and pulled the blankets over her, hiding herself from his view.

The Doctor sighed. Can't win them all, he supposed. He took comfort in the thought that he could work on her more later. He imagined he'd be there a while.


	2. One Cage for Another

The opening of the shoppe had come with the daylight. Eli was settled within her pile in the corner, probably still staring at him as she had been all morning. He looked over at Eli. Yep.

Trying to ignore her, the Doctor decided to watch Vicks instead. The cat man had come in a short time ago, switched on some sleepy alien shoppe music, and now appeared to be busy with paperwork. Sure enough, the wretched remote lay not far from reach on the counter.

The Doctor could take his share of strong electrical currents, and this wasn't the worst by far. There was something about the disabling effect of the shock that created a sort of mental block that discouraged him from speaking. He was stronger than this, wasn't he? Could he really let them alter his advanced mental capacities like this? Why wouldn't his anger override it?

If only the Doctor could somehow disrupt its signal. Of course, to do that, he needed his sonic screwdriver. It had probably been thrown out or sold, along with his clothes. Once the shocker was nullified, he could disengage the locking mechanism on the cage, which also, sadly, required his sonic screwdriver, and get out of here without fear of being shocked. Then, he could find out what happened to Rose.

He really, really needed his sonic screwdriver.

"Mummy, why do they only have fur on their heads?"

It was a little girl with black fur out on the street, leaning at an angle against the pull of her mother's hand as she gawked at the Doctor and Eli.

"Most two-legged pets don't, sweetheart. It's not their fault. Come along."

The Doctor looked to Eli for her reaction, but she didn't seem to have even heard the passersby. He sighed, looking at the ceiling instead. With enough thought, he'd figure a way out. He fantasised that there had been some sort of mix up. They had held Rose up somewhere, and she was on her way to the empty cage in a transport right now. Then he could at least know she was safe, and they could then find a way out.

He sighed again. Wishful thinking.

Pinching the metal loop around his neck, the Doctor stuck his tongue out, bored. He could only catch it with the tip of his tongue, which didn't give him much to go on. It tasted coppery, but if Eli's collar was anything to go by, it was silvery in color. It was some sort of alloy he couldn't place.

An electronic bell sounded. The Doctor looked up. A white-furred lady walked in from the street, a shiny silver handbag draped from one arm. She wore a fancy deep blue suit that hugged her curves as she walked. The Doctor's eyebrows drew upwards.

"Ah, welcome, miss," Vicks greeted her in a tone completely different than what the Doctor was used to. "How may I serve you today?"

"Do you have any pet types?" the lady purred.

"No pets as such, but feel free to take a look and see if any takes your fancy."

The lady took the pair of them in, both lounging in their blanket piles. "Just the two, then?"

Vicks was apologetic. "I'm afraid so, miss, but we're expecting more in soon."

The Doctor perked up at Vicks' words. Maybe Rose was on her way?

"Mm, what can you tell me about the small female there?"

"Ah, that one is a breeder, raised in captivity. Probably pregnant."

The Doctor frowned.

"Oh, I don't want her, then," the lady said with dropped interest. "What about this other one?" She looked him over, appearing hesitant. "You feeding him properly?"

"Ah, yes, of course, but we just got him in yesterday, wild. We have no reason to believe he's malnourished, however. I think it's just common for his species."

"And what species is that?"

"Erm... well actually, we haven't been able to identify him. He's either rare or one heck of a mutt."

The Doctor looked away and rolled his eyes.

"Any special traits?"

Vicks seemed reluctant to go on. "He's somehow managed to pick up Rudeese. I'm thinking he must have come from another family somewhere with a lot of exposure to it and somehow escaped. Forgive me, miss, you asked about special traits. I'd hardly call that one."

The cat lady's eyes sparkled. "Ooh, really? I would think that would make him easy to train, don't you think?"

"Um," stuttered Vicks, "Err, yes, I suppose so." Despite his words, he didn't appear to agree, scratching at his ear, which twitched.

"Stand up," the lady waved a fur-coated hand at the Doctor eagerly. "Let me have a look at you."

Even though it was a command, she had addressed the Doctor properly instead of asking Vicks to make him stand, so he decided to comply. He also didn't want to be shocked if he didn't. Fixing his most somber expression, he pulled himself up out of the blanket pile. The Doctor felt awkward being studied by this woman, especially since he wasn't wearing much. Regardless, her eyes roamed over him anyway. All he could do was glare down at her, and when her eyes finally locked with his, he could see a flicker of something in response.

"Yes, he'll do. Eight thousand. Fair price?"

The Doctor was suddenly alarmed. What did she want him for? He didn't want to be bought, not if it meant leaving his cell mate all alone. He also wanted to be around for if Rose was brought in.

Vicks seemed surprised as well. "Eight thousand! I mean, err... yes, you have an eye for value to be sure! Fair price."

"You really don't want me," the Doctor advised, pulling a face as both heads turned towards him. "I'm sick. Rabid, even-" the Doctor yelped the last word out as he was shocked.

He, um, rambles nonsense quite often," said Vicks, apologetic. "I don't think he's quite grasped the intricacies of Rudeese. We're trying to train him properly. He needs regular shocking."

Didn't he just? Since he had first spoken up, the Doctor's remote was never out of reach.

The lady ran the delicate claws of one hand through the well-groomed fur on the side of her face. "Mm, that's fine," she drawled significantly, "I always keep mine at hand, anyway."

The Doctor swallowed hard, noting the woman's eyes were drawn to the movement of his throat as he did. He opened his mouth to protest, but thought it better for his health if he didn't. It was all he could do to keep his mouth shut as the two filled out paperwork at the counter.

"Miss... Icha Nubien, is it?"

"Yes, payment in full. My credit will cover it."

Vicks responded with a noise of one rather impressed. The Doctor looked behind him at Eli. "Take care," he whispered to her. Eli showed no response, continuing to stare at him.

If the cat people at the desk heard, they didn't show it. Vicks was rummaging through a box of something behind the counter.

"We have 'Ruby Red', 'Sparkling Silver', 'Gleaming Gold'..."

"Oh, I have my own, thank-you." Icha produced a deep blue cord-no doubt 'Brilliant Blue', the Doctor mused-from her handbag, and it took a moment for him to realise it was meant to attach to the hoop around his neck. A proper leash and collar. He bit his tongue, holding in his pride as he took deep, measured breaths to calm himself. The color of the cord matched that of her suit perfectly. How fitting.

Vicks pressed a button and the cage door popped open. He reached for the leash in Icha's hand. "Here, allow me, miss." Vicks approached the cage, looking the Doctor in the eye briefly before attaching the thing to his collar. The Doctor didn't resist. He thought long and hard on ways of punishing the lot of them for their crimes against other species and marveled at how they could be so bloody thick, but he didn't resist.

Vicks handed over the leash and the dreaded shocker remote. Icha turned to leave, and as the Doctor felt the hoop lift slightly off his collarbone, he moved forward to follow her. He was a good head taller than her, and he could see out over her cat-eared head into the street, curious as to what he would find out there. Before he could find out, however, Icha stopped and turned, and the Doctor stopped short of running into her.

"By the way, what's his name?"

Vicks shrugged at her. "He doesn't have one. Give him whatever name you want."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The sunlight felt good. It was a bit odd to be standing outside barefoot, but at least the pavement wasn't too hot. Icha stopped him just outside the shoppe, and while she looked him over again, the Doctor took in the sights of the street. There were feline types walking about, going on with their daily lives. He noticed most weren't dressed nearly as nicely as Icha was. That made sense-only the wealthy would be able to afford slaves. A few post-tech cars droned by above, but it seemed a pretty quiet area. The buildings that lined the street were obviously modern to the age but were decorated with a mix of rustic and stucco designs.

The Doctor frowned. He wasn't positive, but it certainly didn't look like it belonged on Gestaapa. It fit the time period of the system they'd landed in, however. What planet were they on?

Something teased at his hair, and he turned to find Icha fingering it fondly. "Your name shall be Marwari," she told him with a warm, cat-toothed grin, her fine whiskers bunching up slightly. "Your fur and colour remind me of the wild Marwari of my homeland. Yes, that will do." She moved away from him, ready to move on. "Come along, now." At the insistence of the leash, the Doctor had no choice but to follow.

The Doctor found himself somewhat nervous as they walked along the side of the street. Icha had wanted a pet type of slave. From what Vicks had said, there were laborers and breeders, too. If the term 'pet' was any indication, he hoped he was lucky in what he should be expected to do. At least he hadn't been received by someone who liked to beat slaves. At least, it didn't appear he had. Icha was ignorant and well acquainted with the expectations of a higher status, but she seemed kind enough. He sincerely hoped her geniality wasn't just a facade for the outside world and he was in for a terrible surprise once they got to their destination.

Icha also seemed used to having people as pets. The Doctor wondered how many she'd had, and if she had any now. She very obviously liked the fact that he understood and, from her perspective, could speak her language. From Vicks' response, it seemed she was unique in this appreciation. This was good for him. Wouldn't it mean he'd be treated well?

On second thought, it was possibly very, very bad. Maybe she was strange and lived alone, keeping a bunch of pets sequestered in a tiny old house, never seeing the light of day.

Then again, maybe being one of many was good for him. He could get through to the lot of them, and the whole band of them could escape!

The Doctor's musings on slave max exodus were interrupted when Icha again stopped in front of him. At first, he thought she was waiting for a crossing at the intersection they had arrived at. It became clear, however, that she had recognised someone, her attention fixed to a point on the other side of the street.

"Tress!" she called, raising a hand, then beckoning with it. The Doctor couldn't make out who it was she was calling to until he spotted a tawny-coated woman with a speckling of dark spots trotting towards them. She was finely dressed like Icha, and the Doctor noted her seafoam-colored attire fit more loosely than Icha's. Tress met his eyes and approached with a big cat smile.

"Oh, Icha," Tress exclaimed with excitement, looking him over as if Icha had obtained a fashionable new outfit. "What have you got here?"

"His name is Marwari. I've acquired him just now," said Icha, more than happy to show off her prise. "What do you think?"

"Marvelous. Simply adorable." The Doctor resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. Tress' voice dropped somewhat, less sure as she looked up at him. "Although he seems a bit tall to be a proper pet, wouldn't you say?" As his gaze hardened on her, Tress' words all but stalled and her smile faded. "A bit... intimidating?"

"Oh, don't be silly," Icha waved it off, unaffected. "You think I can't pick a proper specimen after all these years of experience? Can't control him?"

"Of course you can, I'm sure," Tress agreed politely. "I just would've thought he'd fit better as the laborer type."

"I should say not! He's much too thin, wouldn't last a week."

The Doctor, a bit tired of being described in the third person by two chatty female cat people right in front of him, lost hold of his tongue. "Now, ladies," he implored with a self-conscious smile and raised hands, "this isn't really the type of thing-"

Tress took a step back and gasped. The Doctor jumped as he felt a buzzing around his neck, its intent as a warning quite clear. He swallowed, any thoughts of speaking forgotten. Interesting little feature Vicks had left out, the buzz setting. Icha showed no surprise.

"Oh, and he can talk."

"Icha!" Tress breathed. "Where did you find such a thing?" A look of horror passed her face, as if she'd thought of something even worse, and gripped Icha's arm. "You're not taking him to the party, are you? What would that be like!"

"I am taking him. Don't worry, he'll be well behaved, you'll see."

Tress proceeded to moan about the breaking of social graces with outbursts from a slave, and after Icha assured her she would sort him out and that they had best get a start on it now, they left Tress at the street corner.

As they traveled further down the street, the Doctor's patience wearing to bared threads, the feeling of utter helplessness began to get to him. It was obvious his being able to understand her was more important to Icha than his ability to respond. He didn't want to go to a party if he couldn't talk.

Certainly he'd offend someone at a fine gathering if he walked in wearing nothing but shorts, though? They weren't big shorts, either. Hopefully pets were given more to wear when going out. Better yet, maybe these were just issued pet shoppe clothes and he'd be given more just because he was owned now.

The Doctor shuddered. He didn't want to be a slave. There were better things to do, like finding Rose. And, frankly, doing whatever the hell he wanted. He'd lived a long time, however, and knew when to fight and when not to. Now was not the time to pull at the reins. When the time did come, however, he would be ready. That didn't make his uncertainty about Rose's condition any easier to live with, though.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The street wound upwards into the hills, the buildings lining it taking a definite turn towards the residential. Not only were there only homes in sight, but almost all of them appeared to belong to the affluent. They had arrived at the aristo-cat district. The Doctor grinned at his play on words.

The Doctor wasn't used to walking barefoot. At least Icha seemed to be enjoying the walk, as her pace seemed to indicate she was in no hurry, which helped.

They were passing a particularly sprawling estate on their right, and the Doctor couldn't help but stare. Great heavy pillars lined a set of double oaken doors at the top of a wide set of marble steps. Violet lawns stretched between various walks, a few of which led off into secluded gardens that, from the outside, appeared to be well kept. Great arches sweeping from the corners of the main structure pushed up to hold a gleaming dome of curved azure glass in the center.

It was then they reached the estate's access to the street, and Icha turned onto the walk. The Doctor groaned inwardly. He should've guessed this was Icha's home.

They passed under trellised arches of spade-shaped leaves, dappled sunlight filtering in to splay across their path. The Doctor wished Rose were here to enjoy it with him.

The Doctor sighed. He wished she was here so _he _could enjoy it.

As they began to ascend the rounded white steps, the Doctor set his sights on the door. He wondered who else he would find inside. Icha approached the doors and the Doctor noticed the distinct laser pattern of a retinal scanner. The doors swung inward at her presence, and she proceeded inside.

Two grand staircases rose up on either side of the foyer, leading to an open balcony above. The balcony rested on the first floor's three pointed gothic arches that framed panels of blue and green stained glass, the middle arch forming a doorway to the area beyond. The whole space was awash with light provided by the great dome of glass high above which, from inside, showed no signs of colourisation.

While the interior was richly furnished with thick warm carpets, rugs and tapestries, there were some decorative items that were, to the Doctor's taste, just plain gaudy. Many walls held shelves of odds and ends that looked out of place. He supposed that was due to the place being owned by a cat. They did like to collect things.

"Welcome home, Marwari," Icha said with a big smile and raised hands. Being last in, the Doctor assumed he was supposed to close the doors after them. As he turned to do just that, something caught his attention outside, all the way out in the street. When he stared at the spot he'd seen something, he found there was nothing there. After a few more moments, he decided it must have just been the sunlight glinting off of something, and closed the doors.

Icha dropped her purse on the ornate side table next to the door, but kept her remote secured at her wrist as she crossed the foyer through the arched doorway. The Doctor followed her into a lush sitting room. That was absolutely the best term for it, the Doctor mused as he took in its contents further. While the entire room was lined with different sorts of chairs and pillows, the center of the room was occupied by the monster of all sofas. He would have classified it as an enormous bed if not for its curved shape, giant cushion, and lack of sheets. It was, of course, a deep dark blue.

"Stay here until I return, Marwari," Icha instructed affectionately. The Doctor looked at her, eyes pleading. Wouldn't she let him speak? She must have translated his expression for confusion, as she added, "Do you understand?"

The Doctor dropped his gaze, nodding. Icha reached up and disconnected the leash from his collar, then exited back out to the foyer and began ascending one of the staircases. He peered back towards the grand double doors. Yes, he understood. No, he wouldn't obey.

Slipping back through the archway, the Doctor looked up towards the balcony to make sure Icha was out of sight. He had to find Rose and make sure she was all right. She was his responsibility, and he had stranded her on this planet, alone and probably enslaved. He had to make it right. Approaching the doors, the Doctor took hold of a great silver lever and pulled. To the Doctor's surprise, the door didn't budge. He applied more force, thinking perhaps it was stuck, then tried pushing, but there was still no movement.

Blast. This house was made for pets and was locked even from the inside. With another desperate yearning for his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor looked to the side, intending to fish through Icha's purse, but the purse was no longer there. She must have taken it up with her. Not to be discouraged and running out of time, he searched for a wall panel near the doors' supports, but there was nothing that looked accessible. Either the bypass ports were well hidden, or there weren't any.

The Doctor heard movement from above. He hastily padded back across the thick carpet and into the sitting room. Plan A, foiled. No matter, he would figure a way out, eventually. After all, he was a genius. The Doctor shook his head. Here he was, the last of the Time Lords, serving as a cat's pet. Icha had no idea she'd gotten quite a bargain.

All was quiet up above again. The Doctor sat on the edge of the cushion, waiting innocently. It was a few minutes before Icha finally appeared in the doorway hugging a big brown pillow, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I told you to stay in this room. Disobey me again, and I won't be so forgiving."

The Doctor, eyes wide in bewilderment at being caught, nodded obediently, swallowing hard at the thought of narrowly missing being shocked. How had she known?

Staring at him, as if assessing his sincerity, Icha finally nodded and sighed. "Here's a present for your homecoming. Be good, and you'll get more." She held out the pillow to him.

The Doctor was hesitant. He didn't want to take anything from Icha. He wanted to resist and rage and tell her off for her audacity, and not cooperate in the slightest so she'd get tired of him and take him back to the shoppe. The Doctor knew he could be bad. It was all a misunderstanding, this one is no good, Vicks. Another, please?

He stared into Icha's human-like eyes, judging her. She wouldn't let that happen, even if he was on his worst behaviour. No, his best move would be to cooperate and gain her trust. Maybe he could even get her to like him enough that he'd be allowed to speak. The Doctor grew eager at this possibility.

The Doctor reached out and took the pillow.

Icha smiled. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up. Put your pillow down here. You can get it later. The Doctor stood resignedly, dropping the pillow onto the couch, and followed her towards the door on one side of the room. He noticed Icha had switched out her tight-fitting blue outfit for an almost sheer seafoam green dress, the same colour as Tress's but with long slits up the legs, showing off her short white fur. He watched her feline hips sway as she led him into a hallway with elaborate crown molding. Icha must think herself a queen in this place. The Doctor drew his shoulders back. She had nothing on what he could give Rose.

Many doors later, Icha stopped and pushed on the handle of one and entered. Inside, the floor, walls, and ceiling were pebbled, and a simple square pillar in the center held a bundle of shower heads. Clusters of ferny foliage peeked out from corners and drooped from high ledges, patiently waiting for the humidity to rise. The huge bathing room looked to be able to accommodate fifty people at once.

The Doctor stiffened as a domestically human image flashed through his mind. Skaro would build itself back into existence before he let Icha bathe him like some drenched dog in a tub. He'd take being shocked into unconsciousness before he'd let her so much as touch him.

"Whenever I ask you to clean up, this is the place you'll use," Icha explained, as if in response to his horrific thoughts, and the Doctor relaxed. "When finished, you're expected to always return to the lounging room. There's no need to rush, but don't keep me waiting too long."

Nodding dutifully, the Doctor watched Icha, waiting for her to leave. She smiled contentedly.

"Yes, I can see I will like you. It's quite nice having you understand so easily."

After enduring another bout of scrutiny, the Doctor was left alone again when Icha padded back down the hallway. He sighed and shuffled further into the bath to mill about the center, looking at the column with its four shower heads. He might as well get on with it and wash up. Did Icha think he smelled like 'pet shoppe', or suspected he would dirty her pillows?

With a touch of the waist-high panel below the shower head, the spray sprang to life. After testing the temperature, he touched the red indicator, and as the Doctor expected, the water heated up. He stepped into the spray and closed his eyes, letting it rain down his face. As he'd done countless times before, the Doctor imagined his worries being washed away with the pelting rhythm. It wasn't in his nature to stand by and do nothing when someone he cared about was in trouble, and he felt he might go mad with anxiety. He was trapped in a posh cat's mansion, and Rose could be anywhere from sitting in a ditch to... well, worse.

The Doctor didn't want to think about it.

Usually, he could let himself get angry and unleash himself on whatever was in his way. In this situation, however, it would do no good. He fingered the smooth curve of the metal hoop about his neck. Being shocked and getting nowhere for it would come to realisation all too easily if he didn't keep his head. And not just once or twice, but constantly, every time he was ordered to do something, punished for speaking up, or by simply thinking of Rose.

"What am I going to do," the Doctor murmured without thinking, then suddenly tensed. But of course, Icha wouldn't hear him, here. His words were drowned in the steady hiss of water around him. He relaxed, taking comfort in his spoken thoughts. It helped him to think, and he relished in the knowledge that he didn't have to fear any consequences for it here. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

"I'll find, you, Rose," he continued, determination in his voice. "Just hold on for me. I'll come for you."


	3. Tea and Cupboards

The Doctor had taken a fluffy green towel from a generous pile in an alcove near the door and was rubbing it through his mess of damp dark hair. He had found a basket of laundered slave shorts in a corner and had donned a pair that fit him. Hoping he wasn't taking too long for Icha, he discarded the towel on the floor and quickly left the bathing room, jogging down the hallway. The place was so huge for one person. Not like the TARDIS, mind. The Doctor wondered why he hadn't seen another living soul yet. Didn't she have servants? Other slaves?

He entered the sitting room--no, 'lounging room', she had called it, and now that he thought about it, hers was an even more appropriate term than his--to find Icha propped up in the center of the couch. A pile of large pillows served as a backrest and, by the look of the indentation there, it was definitely a favourite spot of hers. She had a remote in her hand, but it wasn't his. A vivid flat screen on the far wall, which appeared to be showing a sort of fictional television programme, had her full attention.

Icha glanced over and grinned. "Ah, Marwari... come sit." She patted the couch next to her, where the pillow 'gift' sat, then resumed watching her screen with interest. Well, this was good. At least he didn't have a shock coming for being late, as she didn't seem to mind the length of time he was in the bath.

The Doctor traipsed over and climbed onto the cushion. Remember, play it cool. He grabbed up his big brown pillow and hugged it to him, tucking his feet under himself and settling down next to Icha. It was then he saw his remote, tucked against her other wrist. The high probability that she wouldn't be without it did little to nullify the feeling of disappointment that came over him at seeing it at the ready.

He looked up to the screen. Two felines, an actor and actress, were in a heated argument with each other. He couldn't bring himself to follow the dialogue very closely, but after a few minutes of an escalating hissy fit, the two latched onto each other in a melodramatic snog.

Groaning silently, the Doctor fell back into the pillows. Please, please, please let his immediate future not consist of watching hours and hours of cat soaps.

The programme ended, and the screen began flashing adverts. Icha gave a soft sigh and turned her attention to him. "Ah, it's about time those two got on with it. Now, Marwari, I'll show you how to make... mm." Icha trailed off, the fur of her brow bunching in thought. "Actually, you may already understand. Do you know how to make tea?"

The Doctor perked up and nodded.

Icha's grin was jubilant. "Impress me." She pointed towards the door opposite the one he had taken towards the bath. "The kitchen's right through there. Clean up after yourself."

Eager for something to do, not to mention a good cup of tea, the Doctor bounded off the couch and hurried in the direction indicated.

He had nodded in reply to Icha's question, directed fully at him, without thinking. Would she have punished him if he had instead replied with, _Do I know how to make tea? You'd better believe it! Rose says my tea is fantastic! English tea, anyway. Sadly, she thinks my Buzzatsi tea is just rubbish. But, since you didn't specify, and probably have no idea what either of those teas are, I thought maybe you'd settle for English tea. She didn't know what Buzzatsi was, either, which makes sense since she's never been to the Buzza system, but she tasted it and..._ No, that would have most likely earned him a thorough shocking even if Icha had been expecting a verbal reply. He wondered if a simple 'Yes' would have been safe. Did she expect him to remain completely mute, responding to her questions with simple gestures, or would she find his speaking when spoken to appropriate?

The hallway was a mirror image of the other one he had taken, and still, he saw no one. Would he find someone in the kitchen?

Like the other rooms, the kitchen was massive, and for the most part, looked rarely used at its potential. All was quiet in the pristine environment, not a soul about. The Doctor took in the commercial appearance of the ovens, marble-like counter tops, and burnished steel refrigeration units. This house was clearly built to serve a large number of people. Had it been well used before Icha acquired it, or had she been its original owner and just didn't entertain often?

The teapot, which appeared quite well used in contrast, was easy enough to find, along with proper ingredients in one of the refrigerators. He also found a package of biscuits, so he popped a couple into the oven. As he filled the teapot with water, he frowned in thought. How much should he make? Surely Icha meant for him to have tea, too? Regular folks had tea together as a form of bonding. They were bonding, weren't they? Deciding one could never have too much tea, he filled it right up to the top.

As the Doctor watched over the tea as it heated, his mind began to wander back to the last time he had made tea for him and Rose, one cozy night in the TARDIS after a particularly exhausting adventure. His first reaction was to push the thought away, shielding himself from any depressing thoughts of missing Rose. Instead, he found himself clinging to the comforting remnants of the memory as they floated before his mind's eye, warming him from the inside. Rose had been in a silly and, now that he thought about it, flirty mood that night, poking fun at him about his actions hours before.

_"The Emperor was so making a move on you. I can't believe you didn't notice!"_

_"Rose, how can you say that? He did nothing of the sort!"_

_"I'm tellin' ya, he was. He had that look in his eye. And the duck! Why else would he give you a duck?"_

_"It was a goose, not a duck. In the Opturi culture, Fleimese geese are given as courting gifts to women. Only! Not men! There's a difference!"_

_"Which is?"_

_The Doctor had thrown his hands up then. "It's obvious, isn't it? He meant it to be a gift of appreciation. He expects me to give the goose to one of his daughters."_

_Rose had pinned him with a daring look under one arched eyebrow. "But you won't."_

_"Of course not! That's beside the point, anyway."_

_There had been a pause as they had simply stared at each other. Rose had grinned, then, and broke it with a singsong voice, just to spite him._

_"The Emperor fancies you."_

_"Rose!"_

The stove suddenly hissed angrily at him, forcing the Doctor out of his daze. He saw, rather, that water had boiled out of the teapot, and he cursed himself for filling it too full as he hastily removed it from its heat source.

After fishing up a tray and a couple of cups (he decided to test his luck and bring one for him), he was soon done with the tea, which he added more milk than usual to, thinking himself so clever. After all, he was serving a cat. After completing the snack with the now freshly hot biscuits, the Doctor took a deep breath and carried the tray out into the hall.

Icha craned her neck as he entered the room, eyes roving the tray expectantly. She couldn't see its contents clearly until the Doctor lowered the tray to the sofa next to her, at which point she grinned approvingly. The Doctor found himself crouching down before the tray, as if in submission, and he turned his thoughts inward. Why had he done that? Yes, he wanted to play on Icha's good side, but did he really have to go to such extremes?

Plucking the dainty cup from the tray, Icha tipped it to her feline lips. "Mm, not bad," she leveled. As she continued to sip, the Doctor couldn't help but feel disappointed. He had been sure the extra milk would have done the trick. If she was impressed, she was doing a good job of hiding it. He waited impatiently in his crouched position until Icha looked to him, then beckoned. "Well, come on."

The Doctor grinned boyishly, springing up and landing on the sofa with a bounce. Tea! Picking up his cup in both hands, he made much shorter work of it than Icha had of hers. Halfway through, he peered nervously over his cup at Icha, but she didn't appear to mind. He did notice, however, a glint of amusement in her eye.

The rest of the day had gone by much too slowly. The Doctor learned nothing further about how to escape, as he was made to sit next to Icha on her sofa as she amused herself with an unending string of fictional programmes. He caught himself several times staring at the screen, being sucked into whatever boring drama was presenting itself at the time, and would shut his eyes tightly to block it out, thinking of Rose instead. Several times, he found himself burying his head into his pillow, which smelled new and unused.

When the domed glass above grew duller with the coming evening, Icha asked him if he would fix them supper, and he was more than willing to leave and see to it. Still, he saw no one. She must live alone, here in this grand mansion of a house. It made sense, then, that she have a "pet" to keep her company. Certainly though, with so much wealth, she'd be able to afford servants?

After a good Earth hour in the kitchen and few choice words toward the cooking facilities, he separated out the non-burnt assortment of sundry foods together from that corner of the galaxy to present to Icha. The Doctor considered cooking a pretty simple task, but the kitchen apparently didn't want him using its contents. Despite his misfortunes, Icha seemed satisfied.

Supper had long been finished off when the "telly" went blessedly silent and Icha began to rise. Excited to be doing something, the Doctor picked himself up and stretched his stiffened muscles.

"Time for bed, Marwari."

He gaped. What? Hadn't they been resting all day? Sighing in resignation, he grabbed up his big brown pillow, his only current possession, and followed Icha through the archway and into the foyer. At least he'd have his freedom while she slept.

The Doctor stopped just inside the foyer, looking up at the staircase.

Wouldn't he?

Did Icha have a huge bed to match the sofa and expect him to sleep on her duvet like a faithful pet?

Or worse, did she want him to sleep under it, with her?

Instead of heading towards the foot of the stairs, Icha instead went around the other side of a small table with a marbled vase sitting atop a frilled doily. She opened a triangular door under the stairs and opened it wide, revealing a cupboard. Inside, he could see several warm blankets and a smaller, simple pillow.

"The door is not locked, but this is your own space. I would ask that you stay here when you sleep, but you can of course get up to use the washroom."

Relieved, the Doctor exhaled a deep breath and moved forward. He paused before passing Icha, looking down to search her eyes. Did she honestly expect him to just play the part of a domestic slave, following her around, preparing her meals? She obviously didn't like him talking, but she'd never said he couldn't look at her. And look at her he did, now, attempting to show her through the intensity of his eyes how much he disliked being a slave, how desperately he needed to leave and find someone he cared about, and how arrogant she was for following her society in keeping other sentient species against their will.

Icha didn't flinch.

"I'm tired, Marwari. Please, go to sleep."

The Doctor directed his gaze at the slanted opening directly in front of him, staring hard in frustration. Nothing would be won this day, but he wouldn't give up. Crouching down, he scooted inside, pressing his back against the wall and looking up at her.

Icha drew the door inward, darkening the chamber. "If I find anything broken or amiss in the morning, I will not be pleased. I know you understand me, so there is no excuse.

The Doctor nodded his understanding, but gave her nothing attentive in his expression.

"Also, do not go upstairs unless absolutely necessary. You'll be automatically chastised if you do, but it will alert me should you need help. This is a safe district, so there shouldn't be any need to wake me. Do you understand?"

Again, he nodded, and Icha smiled. "Good night, Marwari." With that, she shut the door, plunging his little space into blackness. The Doctor felt along the angled surfaces, but there was no detectable lamp. He heard Icha ascend the stairs, and then all was quiet. His eyes quickly adjust to the low light level afforded by the slanted slats in the door, but it was still quite dark.

While he had been doing nothing but think all day, he found he could ponder on things more comfortably now that he was alone and could let his guard down. He propped his big pillow in the corner and lay back into it, staring up into the darkness. It made sense Icha didn't want him to sleep in the same room as her. How would she protect herself from a disgruntled slave? What if her pet took advantage of her inability to zap him while unconscious?

If Icha owned such a big house, though, why couldn't he have a proper bedroom to himself? She didn't want him wandering about, and with his own room, he could have his own ensuite washroom. The room could be locked, preventing him from poking into places while she was asleep.

It was a power thing, of course. She planned for him to work for it and get a bigger room later, like he'd earned his pillow. There was also a possibility she didn't have a room for him. The rest of the place could have secrets hiding behind its doors, like other slaves or... anything, really. That didn't seem as likely, however, as she'd given him the freedom to at least move through the halls.

The second story was off limits. Was she hiding something up there, or did she simply not wish to be disturbed?

He would take a walk at least where he was allowed, for now, but he would wait a while for Icha to fall asleep.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

After waiting for what he assumed was long enough, the Doctor cracked open the flimsy cupboard door. The air had grown stuffy, and he breathed in the freshly circulating air of the foyer. The lighting had been dimmed considerably, but compared to the cupboard it was quite suitable to see by. Closing the cupboard behind him, the Doctor stretched his legs and crept over the thick carpets towards the front door and peered up to the landing. It was even darker up there, and all was silent.

Even though he was still trapped in the house, the Doctor felt excitement to be on his own and exploring. He supposed he even felt a bit like a cat, sneaking around in the darkness. He stole through the darkened lounging room and down the right corridor. The whole place must have dropped into night status, either by Icha's hand or automatically. He tried doors as he went along, the first two locked. The third opened into an unoccupied bedroom, perhaps half the size of the TARDIS' console room, appearing ready to receive a guest at any time. The Doctor frowned and moved on, finding several more empty rooms before he'd even reached the bathing chamber. He found his towel still on the floor just inside the door of the bath, indicating there was no one around to pick up after him.

More of the bedrooms and locked doors lay beyond. Everything seemed to be in its place and tidy. Unused.

The end of the corridor opened up into a sort of annex. The first to catch his eye were the large bay windows. Hopping up onto one of them, his feet sinking into the plush pillows at its base, the Doctor tested his knuckles against the pane. He grimaced and his hopes fell. Reinforced endo-glass--there would be no breaking it.

Towering bookcases between the windows held perhaps three thousand volumes. He peered closely at the spines on one shelf, but it was no good--even the ambient purple light from outside was weak. There were no lamps on the two small tables in the center. Moving back to the archway, the Doctor found a panel along the wall and pressed his palm to it, but the room did not light as he'd expected.

It appeared slaves had a curfew.

The Doctor's idea that this place had been designed for pets was increasingly more apparent. Deciding he'd find a way to return during the day, the Doctor left the study.

On the opposite side of the house, past the kitchen, the Doctor could only find more industrial areas. There was a washroom just behind the kitchen of moderate size, no doubt for servants. He passed several locked doors, and when he pressed an ear to their doors, he could hear a faint humming--probably just utility cupboards. A laundry half the size of the bathing chamber was at the end in this direction. A quick search only yielded towels and various other linens, but nothing he could wear without looking more ridiculous. There had to be more clothing in the house. They were most likely in the locked bedrooms, and upstairs.

Every window he came across was made of endo-glass. The few outer doors he found were of course locked just like the front door, as he expected. He couldn't find a way around them, and he pined for five seconds with his sonic screwdriver.

There was nowhere left he could go except upstairs, but from what Icha had said, he wouldn't get far before regretting it. Returning to the foyer, the Doctor looked up again at the dark landing. The house seemed much smaller now that he'd fully explored what he could of the first floor.

Climbing back into his cupboard, the Doctor decided he very much didn't like playing the part of Harry Potter, and it was only a matter of time before he would escape.


	4. Library

For the record, I blame my chapters catching up with me on Avatar 3D, which I've seen four times and it hasn't even been out a week. I'm in love.

Merry Christmas everyone. Bring on the special! The Tenth Doctor, forever!

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Doctor heard stirring upstairs, and he sat bolt upright. Finally, Icha was awake! It had helped air circulation during the night to keep his cupboard door open, but he now pulled it shut, thinking she may want him to keep it closed. He waited impatiently, and finally Icha descended the stairs and opened his door.

She was wearing a fuzzy robe of sorts in an off-white, which made her fur look even whiter. "Good morning, Marwari! Did you sleep well?"

He really should be polite and nod affirmatively. Since he didn't sleep and was feeling grumpy at her for leaving him bored and keeping him captive, he really didn't want to. Instead, he settled for a vague shrug of his shoulder. To his surprise, this earned him a frown from Icha. He hadn't expected her to care.

"That's too bad. I'm sure the adjustment will pass quickly." She brightened and waved him out. "Come on! Time for some breakfast!"

The Doctor climbed out and stretched. If he didn't do something active soon, he would surely go stir-crazy. Surely they would do something today? He followed Icha into the lounging room.

"Make whatever you like. I'll be right here." Icha slinked onto the sofa, making herself comfortable.

The Doctor frowned at Icha. Didn't she do _anything_ but walk to the pet shoppe and watch telly? Then he remembered she had said something about a party. He wondered what would come of that as he shuffled off down the hall towards the kitchen. He was grateful to be finally doing something, and breakfast _did_ sound brilliant.

After a satisfying meal, the Doctor collected the dishes and took them to the kitchen. He then hurried to the end of the hall and peeked out the laundry window into the sunlight. Bright green shrubs and multi-colored flowers were everywhere, and he couldn't see past them. Everything looked so well kept, and the Doctor didn't take Icha to be the gardening type. He remembered the rooms he was able to enter appearing fairly well dusted. _Someone_ had to be maintaining the place.

Returning to the lounging room, the Doctor hopped onto the cushions and lay on his stomach next to Icha on the sofa in the spot that was quickly becoming his, just to her left. Brown pillow in his arms and under his head, he closed his eyes against the drama that was playing out in front of him. He had a brilliant mind and could keep himself occupied forever if he wanted to, just by thinking. Right?

Right. If he was so brilliant and had nothing to do but think all day, why hadn't he figured a way out yet? And furthermore, why was he sitting around doing nothing and not pushing his limits? Sure, Icha would prefer he be the perfect pet, but where was earning her trust going to get him, really?

His thoughts turned towards the collar. It had something to do with the ring of metal around his neck, it's hard surface a constant reminder that it could activate at any moment and render him useless. Yes, he recovered from its effects quickly enough. He did have to wonder what long term effects from frequent shocking would do, however. The Doctor frowned, puzzled. He risked his life all the time when people he cared about were in danger. Why should now be any different?

It was more than that, though. The collar frightened him. He feared losing control of himself.

Icha had experience with its use. While Vicks had shocked him senseless with every word, Icha seemed to have an uncanny perception as to just how much was necessary. Her confidence told him that she wouldn't hesitate if she felt an actual shock was necessary to keep him in line, and that was apparently enough to change his usual manner of doing things.

He hated being a slave and should be doing everything in his power to escape, but a sense of hopelessness settled around his shoulders that he couldn't explain.

After pondering on his irrational fear grew frustrating and boring, he sighed into his pillow and relaxed, attempting to distract himself with thoughts of Rose.

Time passed and his thoughts muddled together with words and sounds from the telly. After a while, he found himself smirking.

In his mind, he had just teased Rose about something. Whatever it was, it didn't matter, because right now, she was giving him the most brilliant smile in return. No, hold on, it _did_ matter, because whatever he'd done he'd have to do again over and over just to get her to smile that way. No, nevermind, it did _not_ matter, because it was all in his head. The Doctor sighed and hugged his pillow a little tighter, wishing it smelled like Rose. He couldn't wait until he found an opportunity to escape and find her.

Something touched his hair, and the Doctor jumped clean out of his thoughts. Looking back at Icha, he could see her arm casually outstretched towards him. When she didn't relent, he jerked away.

"You want to cooperate, Marwari." Icha's expression was as calm as ever, yet the warning in Icha's tone was clear. "I'm not harming you in any way. If you pull away again, do not think I will allow it."

The hours of lazily doing nothing in relative comfort had dulled his alertness, and the Doctor had been caught suddenly off guard. He was now fully awake, and his sense of complacency had turned to distrust. His eyes flicked from the remote at her right hand to her eyes, meeting her challenging gaze with his own. He knew he could stare down the best of them, could intimidate even the boldest of kings, but Icha wasn't even blinking.

The Doctor didn't want to be shocked. He didn't want to be touched, either, but being shocked sounded much worse.

What would it hurt, anyway, but his pride?

Before he had settled on a decision, Icha had reached for him again, and he decided he had little choice but to comply. He did glare at her, though, as she stroked her fingers through his hair. He didn't have to like it.

When she was satisfied he wasn't going to put up a fight, she returned her attention to her programme. The Doctor sulked, lying there stiffly, feeling a bit silly with his hair sticking up in all directions.

The Doctor would wait it out, allow this bit of domestication, only because it really wasn't that important. After a few minutes, he finally began to relax again, and tried to return his attention to his inner musings as he was stroked by a purring cat.

It was a complete mystery why a cat would like to pet a furless person so much. Couldn't Icha just pet her own fur if she liked soft things? All this time, the Doctor figured cats loved receiving but weren't really the giving types. Besides, his hair surely wasn't softer than hers.

She had started with his head, but after he had gotten used to it, Icha had moved on to his shoulder and down his bare back, causing him to tense up. It tickled uncomfortably, as he was unaccustomed to the sensation. He finally relaxed, however, but he swore if she started using her claws, he wouldn't be responsible for his actions.

After what felt like hours, he snapped.

The Doctor sat upright, and Icha pulled back and peered at him questioningly. Should he verbally ask what he wanted? No, something told him now wasn't the time. He made to point down the hallway, but it turned into a tentative flick of the wrist and a self-conscious rub at the back of his head, as if gesturing too loudly would earn him a shock. Since the request had turned out completely pathetic, he decided to stick with the theme and fixed Icha with his best puppy eyes.

Icha gave him a little smile. "Go ahead. Don't dawdle."

Pushing off the couch, the Doctor made good on his chance to get away and walked as briskly as he dared, feeling better with each step away from Icha. Once in the hallway, he ruffled his hair and growled. After popping in and out of the loo, he went for the library.

The room was awash with daylight. Padded chairs and cozy tables in the center held sun-warmed surfaces and dusty old books. The walls rose up with rows of volumes promising hours of learning and lack of brain-numbing cat fiction. Here and there the blocks of stacked paper were interrupted by curios that looked more like chunks of space junkyard than bookends. The gaps between bookcases yielded views of vines swaying from trellises in the breeze, their dotted shadows dancing hypnotically about the room.

The Doctor pulled in a deep breath, and the comforting aroma of books permeated him. On this forsaken slave rock, he had found a tiny bubble of heaven.

Dragging a chair over, the Doctor balanced on its cushion and peered over a high shelf at a particularly convoluted heap of scrap. He suddenly beamed widely. "Oh, you're a beauty, you are!"

Fighting temptation to pull it down right then and there, the Doctor instead scanned the spines of the nearby books. "Choose quickly, no 'dawdling'..." he mumbled to himself. After putting up with Icha's latest fancy, he decided he deserved a book. He highly doubted Icha would let him take down a contraption that looked like it belonged to the more intimate side of a hover-sled's primary coil interface and start strewing its guts across her sofa, but maybe a book would be safe. He stopped at a title. "_Paurin, a History_. Hm." Icha may not like demonstrations of intelligence in slaves. She may object to the Doctor reading anything, or even the idea that he had gone elsewhere besides the loo, and he really didn't want to be shocked.

Then again, she really did like his being intelligent enough to understand her.

The Doctor tipped the book from its place and slipped out of the library.

Icha had treated him differently from her past pets, he was sure. He had full confidence slaves on this planet had picked up the language of their slavers, but by the time they did, they no doubt were beaten enough into submission and felt it wise to not let onto their knowledge. The Doctor was different. He understood and proved he could speak the language of the "higher race", by all appearances, and wasn't ready to give up. While Vicks clearly ignored him by falling back on years of denial towards intellectual equality of races, Icha measured his linguistic skills as a level of intelligence in him. He supposed he was lucky. If he could get through to anyone, hopefully it would be her.

Circling back around the sofa, the Doctor settled nervously next to his pillow and looked to Icha. Judging by her personality and training style, he figured it would be better to ask her permission than to just open the book up and have at it. He waved it at her questioningly.

Icha arched an eyebrow, its slightly grey fuzz doing little to stand out against the white fuzz of her face. "Had yourself a wander, did you?"

Her tone didn't sound promising. Deciding he had better backpedal, the Doctor swallowed and laid the book carefully near her lap and reverted to the puppy eyes. _Please don't shock me! If you don't want me reading it, I won't... but I've been good. I deserve a book._

Icha studied him for a long moment, then looked up at the telly. The Doctor could tell she wasn't watching it but was still thinking. She looked to the book and then to him. Sighing discreetly, she picked up the book. "I'll allow you to look at books, but one at a time. Put them back where you find them." She lifted the book. "Not this one. Go find another."

The Doctor looked at _Paurin, a History_ in her hand. What about the book did she want to keep from him? This made him even more curious, and he had to force himself to nod and stand up. A thought made him stop, and he held his hand out, testing his luck. _I'll put it back, Mother, just like you said!_

Her eyes narrowed shrewdly and she placed the book on the sofa next to her. "Go pick another, Marwari."

Damn. He nodded again and trekked back through the house. Even though he had made a small victory by having Icha's blessing to look at books at all, the Doctor couldn't help but wonder at the book she confiscated from him. Was _Paurin_ the planet they were on? Did Icha consider something within its history dangerous for him to know about?

The Doctor chose _Interstellar Propulsion Theory and Application_ and returned to Icha. There had been several other titles his quick scan had yielded that were far more interesting, but he determined those books would probably be just as interesting to Icha and he had better not risk her confiscating them, too. Surely she wouldn't have any interest in this book. Yes, I am a rocket scientist, why do you ask?

Sure enough, Icha raised an eyebrow, but this time with disinterest, and the cat woman returned her attention to her television programme. Satisfied he now had something to keep him from going insane, the Doctor made himself comfortable. He supposed making himself physically uncomfortable in such a place was impossible short of earning himself a shocking, but hey, he could be picky.

Surely he would learn something from the book. The Doctor was a bit rusty on this era's knowledge of hyperdrive multiplication standards, and it couldn't hurt to brush up.

After supper, the Doctor finished studying his book backwards and forwards while, to his annoyance, Icha idly pet him. He peered back at Icha, fully expecting her to be glued to the screen. He was surprised to find her gazing at him, and he caught a glimpse of wonder on her face before she managed to reapply her mask of indifference. Icha appeared to be coming to terms with the fact that the Doctor not only could read, but had understood everything in the book of science he had chosen.

Then again, she had also been petting him. The Doctor frowned. Icha's expression _had_ been about the book, right?

Icha turned to look at the other book, which lay on the other side of her lap. She thought for a moment, then picked it up.

"Time for bed, Marwari."

The Doctor sat up, following the book in her hand with his eyes.

Icha stood and stretched, the curves under her robe rolling provocatively with her feline spine. She then walked off into the foyer with her book. The Doctor picked up his pillow, left his book on the sofa, then followed her. He found Icha holding his cupboard door open, and the Doctor moved to stand facing her in front of it, just like the night before.

"In you go," Icha instructed in a kind tone.

The Doctor spotted the remote in her grip, her finger resting on the button. A chill went through him, and he looked down into Icha's eyes. Why was he still here? This was ridiculous. He'd gotten nothing accomplished all day except reading some useless book. He had done nothing, less than he had done in so long. He would rather be running for his life or at least be able to fight some ignoble alien, like the one in front of him.

Frustration overwhelmed the Doctor in that moment, and he could feel it welling in his eyes and chest. He should have escaped by now. Rose was out there, alone, and it was his fault.

Icha searched his expression and turned concerned. "What's wrong, Marwari?"

She had asked him a question. Icha had just asked _him_ a question, one that would normally be verbally responded to. Now was his chance to reply! Wasn't it?

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Why was this so hard? She wouldn't be upset. She had asked him a question! What else would she want him to do but say something back? He wouldn't get shocked, he told himself. Fear battled with his desperation to be heard. He took a deep breath and tried again, but he couldn't seem to find the words.

What had she reduced him to?

"It's all right, Marwari." Icha smiled at him. She put the book under her arm and rested her hand on his shoulder. "It will get easier, Marwari. You did very well today. Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning, and we'll try something I've been eager to show you." Icha moved off towards the foot of the stairs, and the Doctor watched after her, confused. He should say something!

The moment passed, and Icha had ascended to the second floor. The Doctor drew in a shaky breath and slouched against the small doorway. He dropped his head back against the wall and shut his eyes.


	5. PCOS

As soon as the sky began to brighten, the Doctor was out of his cupboard and down the hall. Lifting himself onto the chair, he reached onto the shelf and pulled the heap of scrap from its resting place. Surely she wouldn't notice it was missing. Icha probably didn't even know what it was.

Stealing quickly to his cupboard, the Doctor settled himself inside and began pulling the components apart on the floor in front of the doorway where there was more light. It was harder than he expected, and the Doctor once again wished for his screwdriver. He wondered who had decorated the library. While the rest of the place fit what he assumed was Icha's style, he couldn't imagine her thinking objects such as this could be considered a form of decor. Granted, some of the shelves held a statuette here and there between the books, but then there were treasures such as _this_, and the Doctor fully intended to make use of what he could.

Icha was awake. The Doctor began snatching up the pieces and stashing them under a blanket in the darkest corner of his cupboard, towards the foot of the stairs. He lastly picked up the bits he had begun threading together, closed the cupboard door, and continued to fiddle with them until Icha came downstairs. He hid it on top of the secret pile and reclined against his pillow, attempting to look sleepy.

Icha, again in her fuzzy off-white robe, said good morning and immediately shooed him off towards the kitchen to make breakfast. The Doctor did as he was told. Icha never gave him a time limit on cooking, and he admitted he had taken his time last night with supper just to kill time, but she had mentioned something new for today, and the Doctor couldn't help but wonder if it would present him with an opportunity. He didn't put together anything special: pink eggs, some sort of bacon he couldn't identify, and of course toast. He liked toast.

After breakfast and a television programme he unfortunately recognised from yesterday morning, the Doctor was instructed to return the book he had left on the sofa the night before and return without a new one. He put the book back in its place and enjoyed the library for as long as he dared before marching back down the hall. He passed the bathing room, but before he reached the lounging room, he was surprised to see Icha in the hallway. She was unlocking the door just outside the main room, and as she opened the door, she looked up and spotted him.

"Ah, there you are Marwari. Come inside!"

Curious, the Doctor followed her through the door as the lights activated to half the level of that in the hall. Soothing meditation music rose from the silence, and the Doctor couldn't pinpoint its source. Leafy ferns hung from the walls and sprouted robustly from pots in the corners, reminding him of the bathing chamber. A shallow cupboard with an artistic fountain tap hugged the right wall.

It was then the central lamp flickered on, lighting up a table in the middle, and the Doctor stopped in his tracks.

Jescaic Prime's penance platforms wouldn't be invented for another two centuries, and the wiring was all wrong to be a "Bane of the Enemy" from the Hru'Tar moon empire, unless it had been greatly altered. No, it more resembled a Krellic lashing board, but it was missing its straps. Why would Icha be excited to show him a lashing board? Surely she didn't find whipping her pets to be a soothing experience?

No, the setup wasn't right. A lashing board didn't belong in a setting befitting a sanctuary. This was something worse.

It was a massage table.

The Doctor turned to find Icha locking the door with an antique brass key and slipping his collar's remote into a sheath attached to the wall near the entrance. Once the remote was in the sheath, a little blue light turned on, signaling a connection. Icha beamed at him, sweeping an arm across the room. "This is PCOS, or Pet Co-Op System."

Thin metal pipes led out from the remote's holder against the wall, and the Doctor followed them up through the wall and across the ceiling towards the room's centre. Icha continued, stalking towards the Doctor with slow, measured steps. "It's very expensive. It interfaces with a neural link implant," Icha tapped the side of her head, "only for advanced handlers. If a handler goes unconscious, or doesn't so much as like what a pet is doing, the pet will be chastised." Icha stopped in front of him, looking up into his eyes. "I know that won't be a problem for you, Marwari, but I know how curious you are and thought you would appreciate knowing."

The Doctor swallowed nervously in the heavy silence that followed, betraying his cool. Icha noticed, her eyes catching on the motion of his throat.

Pet Co-Op System, right. More like Enslavement Assist System, he mused. The Doctor could understand the reason such a system would be invented and why this society would be making use of it. The PCOS took over for her while in a compromised position, so she wouldn't have to hold the remote. Icha moved to the cabinet half shaded by fronds, and the Doctor wondered from behind her back what she was doing. If what he sensed was coming were true, he almost would rather her be retrieving the missing straps of a Krellic lashing board.

Icha pointed to the table. "Make yourself comfortable, Marwari."

The Doctor didn't want to move. Wasn't she wanting the massage? Really, he would rather just leave for the safety of the lounging room and face boredom and an inevitable shocking, but Icha had sealed the door behind him and he didn't have his sonic screwdriver.

He knew the lock was actually more complicated than it looked. The door had a slot for a simple-looking key, but just like the TARDIS, the locking mechanism was not mechanical. The brass key he had seen Icha use probably had a chip inside it, which would actually be the trigger. There would be no picking it.

Seeing no alternative other than to be shocked and eventually do this anyway, the Doctor trudged over to the table. Now that he was closer, he could see the table was padded. He seated himself and stared at Icha anxiously. She turned round, holding an elaborately shaped glass bottle of some sort of liquid, and again gestured to the table.

"Lie down, Marwari."

The Doctor found himself shaking his head, expressionless. Did he look like he wanted a massage? Hadn't she gotten enough out of petting him for hours on end? He tensed and looked for the remote in her hand, but of course it wasn't there. It was on the wall by the door.

Connected to the room. Connected to her head.

Instead of becoming angry, Icha appeared surprised. "Marwari, I'm not going to hurt you," she purred. "See?" She held up the glass bottle, as if it said everything.

The Doctor peered at Icha quizzically.

Icha smiled. "It's pet oil! You don't have fur. It will help." She moved closer, again motioning for him to lie down. "Here, I will show you."

As Icha advanced, the Doctor felt a sudden, inexplicable panic rise within him, and he recoiled. "I don't--" the Doctor bit out before stopping himself.

He didn't want this. He didn't want Icha touching him. He watched Icha with wide eyes, holding his breath and waiting for her reaction.

Icha again appeared genuinely surprised at the Doctor's reaction. Curiousity overrode anger, it seemed, and no shock came. "Marwari..." Icha's tone dripped with patronising concern. "You're so afraid! There, there, nothing to worry about! Do you think I would hurt you, really?"

The Doctor's breathing had quickened and he shut his eyes, attempting to calm himself. This didn't make sense to him. Sure, it was an invasion of his personal space, but that sort of went with being a slave. He'd been a slave before, and he knew it wasn't going to kill him.

It was based on the same aversion he had of Icha petting him, he could tell, but he had gotten past that. This was worse, somehow.

"Marwari, look at me."

The Doctor opened his eyes. Icha was close, regarding him seriously.

"I don't know why you're afraid, but you have no reason to be. You will lie down, now. I need to show you what you must do for me. You can't know how to do it until you feel it for yourself."

So that was it. Icha wasn't trying to invoke anything in him, she was just trying to teach him.

Taking a deep breath, the Doctor swiveled and stretched out on the table. He didn't have to like it, he just had to do it. He told himself it was better than being shocked. Not believing it, he told himself again. And again.

The muscles in his shoulders twitched when Icha touched his bare skin. He had expected the oil to be cold, but it was warm. Icha smoothed her hands slowly between his shoulder blades and down either side of his spine, and the Doctor found it within himself to marvel at the difference the oil made. It was an almost completely different experience from being petted.

"Pay attention, Marwari. Always go with the fur, not against it. Notice where to press harder, and where to stay light."

The Doctor closed his eyes and listened to the calming music, directing his full attention to the sliding pressure across his back. Tension he had been holding inevitably began to give under Icha's expert ministrations, and he found himself anticipating the next stroke, yearning for deeper pressure he hadn't known his muscles craved. He thought back, trying to remember the last time he had allowed anyone this close.

He thought of Rose.

The Doctor's hearts contracted with pain. He wasn't supposed to be here, in this intimate room with a rather attractive feline woman doing this to him. There were planets to save and people to meet. He wasn't supposed to be following Icha around, catering to her every whim and fancy.

He was supposed to do _that_ for Rose.

Icha pulled back when the Doctor rose up on his elbows and looked at her. She hesitated, doubtful. "You think you've got it, then?"

The Doctor nodded and sat up, not really giving her a choice, unless she were to force him out of one, which she didn't. Seemingly satisfied, Icha smiled and went to the tap to wash her paws.

He had to admit, he did feel looser. The Doctor wasn't currently too happy with the table, however, so he stood up and waited for Icha, eyeing the PCOS system in hopes of figuring out more about how it worked. More specifically, he hoped to figure out if it was breakable or not.

Icha returned with a happy sigh and removed her robe. The Doctor, being caught off guard, immediately averted his eyes once what she was doing had registered. She draped the robe over the table and lay down.

"I don't expect you to be very good at first, so don't worry. Just do your best. You'll learn as you go."

Thankfully, Icha was wearing knickers. The Doctor's eyes roved over the stretches of white fur hugging the very feminine curves of her back and legs. The bottle of oil and the brass key sat on the cupboard, next to the tap. Of course, she didn't expect him to use the oil on her. It was for people without fur, like him.

Icha held no remote. The Doctor had to remind himself that, according to her explanation, he wasn't in any better position of escaping or overpowering Icha because of it. There was no way he could pick up the key and unlock the door and leave before being shocked. Besides, where would it get him but into another locked prison?

He grasped the basic idea. He picked up enough of what she wanted him to do. Combined with common sense, surely he could figure it out. Seeing there was nothing else for it, the Doctor made a show of cracking his knuckles and went to work.

The fur was soft to the touch. He could feel the pliant skin beneath and the bony protrusions of her shoulder blades. The Doctor made sure to move with Icha's fur, which made the process rather simple. Mapping her skeleton in his mind, he drew his fingertips lightly across bone. Using his thumbs, he pressed into the muscles between.

Before long, the distinct trembling of purring reverberated against his hands.

The Doctor paused. Icha twisted slightly and looked up at him, her eyes shining.

"That is very good, Marwari!" She lay back down, making herself comfortable. "Keep it up. I'll reward you later for being a good boy."

The Doctor froze. Icha noticed.

She chuckled. "I know what you're thinking. Don't worry. You liked your pillow, didn't you? You'll like this more."

The Doctor continued, grinning despite himself. He felt like he had earned something, which he admitted was pitiful, and he really shouldn't be pleased with himself because he was still a prisoner. He pushed the thought away, deciding to take heart in what little victory he could.

As he came across the shoulders and the back of her neck, he slowed his pace as a dangerous idea sprang into his mind.

This could be the opportunity he had been waiting for. A massage was a perfectly valid excuse for touching her head. The Doctor could psionically overpower the link to the node in her head, sealing it away from her control before she could react.

At least, that was the theory. Deciding it best to not think on such things with his hands so close to her mind lest his less than benevolent intentions were to bleed through, he moved back to stroking the cat woman's back as he weighed his options.

If he failed and ticked her off, the Doctor wouldn't get his "reward" for sure. What did it mean in the end, though, if it meant he could escape? Then again, maybe his reward involved going outside, which could also present him with an opportunity?

Steadying himself with a deep breath, the Doctor guarded his thoughts and surreptitiously moved his hands upwards. Surely the muscles of her head were in need of a good loosening, and he wouldn't be a gentleman if he didn't oblige her, would he? He splayed his fingers up the back of her neck and ran them up her scalp, eliciting a little moan from Icha. Since she clearly didn't object, he swept his other hand over the side of her head, ghosting over the temple. The Doctor closed his eyes, concentrating on reception of surface thoughts.

Yes, this was Marwari, just trying to earn his reward and make a good job of it, no need to be suspicious. He rubbed circles from the temple to the base of her feline ear, keeping his psyche passive, but unfortunately the relaxing effect of the action made her mind effectively blank for his purposes.

Dare he press further?

Rose was worth the risk. After Icha's neural link was severed, he could easily overpower her by sheer strength. The Doctor let his righteous anger permeate him. He would speak, loud as he wanted, and she would listen. He would talk some sense into her head, and she couldn't do a blasted thing about it.

Yes, he would overpower her, showing her just what strength a healthy male Time Lord could muster.

The Doctor was imagining the fear he would see in Icha's eyes when she suddenly shuddered under his hands and lifted herself up on her elbows. Blinking, the Doctor stepped back, stunned. What had he done?

Icha looked distracted, her brow furrowed slightly, but she shook it off and smiled at him. "Thank you, Marwari. You've done very well. More tomorrow."

As she rose from the table in all her white-furred glory, the Doctor spun round. In an attempt to hide his discomfort, he justified the sudden move by stepping to the fountain and washing his hands. He had fur stuck to them. Yes, that was it.

The Doctor had been careless. Icha had felt uneasy enough to escape the feeling by moving on.

What she was unaware of is that her perception of his wrath was real and not just paranoia.

Finishing with the tap, the Doctor dried his hands on a towel and turned. Icha was properly robed and shuffled past him, picking up the key and unlocking the door. She removed the remote from its sheath and its blue light blinked off. Eager to leave this room, the Doctor immediately followed Icha out into the brighter hallway.

"Wait here, Marwari. I'll be right down with something for you to choose!" Icha instructed once they had passed by the sofa, and she disappeared into the foyer. His slaver seemed just as excited to be giving him something as he was to receive it. Something to choose? What could it be? A toy? If it was, it had better have a circuitboard or plasma bytes. Maybe she was letting him read _Paurin_. Icha knew he liked the book, so that made sense. Or, maybe...

"Here we are!" Icha announced brightly, appearing in the archway with a decorative purple wooden chest, which she dropped onto the edge of the sofa. It was labeled "male" on the front. She lifted the latch and the Doctor saw clothes of all sorts of colors inside. "Choose one, Marwari."

The Doctor rewarded Icha with a broad grin and bounced onto the sofa in front of the chest. He was right--Icha _did_ keep clothes stashed upstairs. He began pulling the articles out one by one. They appeared to be all tops, most of which were too big for him. He came across a plain white T-shirt that looked promising. Searching through the rest of the box, he decided it was his best option and looked to Icha.

Icha grinned. "Go on. Try it on."

The Doctor threaded his arms through and noticed how brightly light shone from his shoulder. His back was still slicked with oil. Deciding he didn't care, the Doctor pulled the shirt over his head and down his torso. It was nice and long, of medium weight, and definitely wouldn't fit just anybody. Not too stretchy, but just enough give. Not loose, but well fitted, just the way he liked it. He rolled his shoulders--not too tight.

Perfect.

The Doctor beamed up at Icha, who returned an expression of approval and delight at seeing his excitement.

"Very good. You look good in it, Marwari." Icha closed the chest. "I'll be right back."

As Icha disappeared again, the Doctor was left sitting on the couch in his new top. In just a few days, the Doctor had started to get used to being shirtless. It felt good to wear one again, and he felt just a bit more normal.

The Doctor slouched and hung his head, his new top's fabric bunching in horizontal lines against his lean stomach, and his smile slowly faded. He was still a prisoner. A prisoner with a shirt, but still a prisoner.

A prisoner that had cocked up a possible opportunity to escape.

What did a shirt matter in the end? Rose was out there and needed him. Here he was on a comfy couch with a shirt, and he had no idea if she had even that much. The Doctor shuddered.

Icha had reduced him to appreciating even the smallest of things, and he supposed that was something. It wasn't often someone could humble him to such a state as this.

He vowed that if he found Rose--no, _when_ he found Rose--he would remember this feeling he had now. The Doctor would magnify it tenfold, because Rose was endlessly more important than a shirt, and he would never stop appreciating her as long as she lived.


	6. The Walk

I've had some time to write, and because your reviews are so encouraging, I wanted to reward you all with a bonus chapter before "End of Time" Part 2.

Happy New Year!

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Doctor was sat on the edge of a padded stool in the lounging room, kicking his legs with pent up energy and waiting for something to happen. Icha had told him to bathe and to wait for her in the lounging room when he was done, then disappeared upstairs. He was staring at the wall, clean and contentedly wearing his new shirt and still kicking when Icha entered. His antics earned him an arched eyebrow.

Icha was wearing a light purple dress that ended in a bit of a flare at the knees. It shimmered in the sunlight that filtered through the domed ceiling of the lounging room with every hint of movement. Her shoes and gloves matched. The silver handbag was slung over an arm, and of course his remote was in her hand.

"How would you like to go for a walk, Marwari?"

The Doctor thought she would never ask.

Beaming, he catapulted off the stool and joined her at the archway. Icha chuckled and pulled out his blue leash. Despite the sight of it, the Doctor was still eager to go. He groaned inwardly. Would he find himself fetching his leash in the future and bringing it to Icha, begging to go for walks?

He couldn't escape even without it. The leash meant nothing, except that it gave Icha something to pull on him with.

Icha moved to the front door. Before she opened it, however, she turned to the Doctor.

"Now there's something you must learn about being in public. Normally it's learned pretty quickly, but I expect you to learn even faster, just as you have so far with everything!" Icha practically squealed in delight. "I can't believe how easy this is! You're going to be so much fun at the party!" The Doctor's lips stretched in a tolerant grin, and Icha calmed herself. "Now. First thing's first. Whenever we're in public, or even if I have guests over, you are to show respect. When you aren't walking, you are to stay down, just behind and to my right."

Icha demonstrated by turning towards the door and pointing to the floor where she wanted him. Was she serious? Knowing his life couldn't have been so easy as a slave as it had so far appeared, the Doctor figured if it got him out of the house, it was worth it. Embarrassing and a dent to his pride, but worth it.

Besides, all the other slaves most likely had to do it. In this society, it was normal.

The Doctor stepped just behind Icha, a little to her right. Icha's hand immediately moved back to rest on his hip, a motion she appeared to not even have to think about. It would be hardly noticed by others.

"Down, Marwari."

The Doctor closed his eyes briefly and let a bit of steam out as he exhaled. He dropped to a crouch.

"Very good, Marwari," Icha drawled. Without turning, her delicately gloved hand came up to scratch his head, mussing his hair. "You may walk comfortably, of course. You're a lucky pet. I'm good to my pets, and that's why they're good to me!"

The Doctor told himself he was lucky, but he didn't believe it. She could just keep on believing it in her own little world.

Icha opened the front door, and the Doctor rose and followed her out into the sunlight.

Icha's dress shimmered even more brightly outside. The weather was sunny and fair again, just like the first day, which was not uncommon for a Prima class moon. Perhaps this was _Paurin_, a Prima class. The Doctor longed to peek at the book Icha had taken from him.

Heat radiated from the pavement, warming his feet. Would Icha ever let him have shoes? Again, she didn't appear to be in a hurry to anywhere, so the Doctor was able to walk slowly.

That wasn't to say _he_ wasn't in a hurry to anywhere. He wanted to run, trainers or not, down the hill towards the pet shoppe, and if it was empty, he would run to every building in the entire town until he found Rose.

In the middle of nowhere, Icha stopped. The Doctor stopped behind her and looked about, trying to ascertain what they were waiting for. Icha didn't look at him, but he suddenly felt her hand on his hip.

The Doctor grimaced and sighed, then dropped to a crouch.

"Good, Marwari. You'll get used to it."

Icha started walking again, and the Doctor got up and followed.

They made their way down the hill and into town. Several more times, Icha stopped for no apparent reason, and within seconds, the Doctor twigged and crouched down next to her furry leg. He kept telling himself it was worth it to be outside.

Moreso, it was worth it to catch sight of the pet shoppe, which he spotted on the corner up ahead.

What if Rose was in there?

As they continued to walk, the Doctor tried to peer inside. They were on the opposite side of the street, and it was too dark inside to see properly. They began to pass it, and the Doctor slowed until the leash pulled his collar tight.

Icha stopped and looked. The Doctor pulled a bit and pointed at the pet shoppe imploring her with urgent eyes. Icha studied him, narrowing her own.

"We're not going there today, Marwari."

The Doctor swallowed, his hearts accelerating. How far was he willing to go with this?

He grasped the leash, relieving the pressure around his neck, and pulled, focusing on the shoppe.

"Come, Marwari." Icha instructed calmly.

The Doctor didn't relent. He didn't get very far.

The buzzing almost made him jump, even though he had been expecting it. He stopped.

Was it worth it? How likely was it Rose was even in there?

"Come, Marwari. Now."

There was no point. Even if he managed to yank the leash from Icha's grip, he wouldn't even make it to the middle of the street before being shocked helplessly to the pavement. He may even be able to get up again and run for it, but he imagined this would only earn him a further shocking so severe that he wouldn't be able to move at all. Then he wouldn't have accomplished anything except earn Icha's mistrust.

Were the chances Rose was in there any higher than her being in another building, really?

Sagging with defeat, the Doctor let go of the leash and put some slack into it. He pinned Icha was a furious glare, but Icha's own hardened gaze only lasted an instant before she turned away and continued walking.

His slaver was not happy with him. He had elicited curiousity in her before, however. Surely she had to be curious as to why he was so adamant about this over anything else?

The Doctor was distracted from his pining thoughts as he caught sight of someone crouching next to a cat man across the way. It was a woman, who appeared content to play with an object in her hands while her slaver talked to someone else, and it was obviously not Rose. He could see the black shorts she wore were longer than his, and the dark red band around her chest had decorative edges to it. When she looked up for a moment, the Doctor could tell that it was not Eli.

Icha turned into a coffee shoppe. A few patrons sat on stools at little high tables, but it appeared to be a slow day. A cat man greeted Icha from the counter.

"What can I get you, Ma'am?"

"Orange tart tea, and a side of sweet berries, please." Icha alighted upon a stool at an empty table, and the Doctor made to sit next to her. Icha gripped his arm. "No, Marwari." She smiled sympathetically and pointed to the floor next to her stool. "Stay there."

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor crouched down by the stool, playing the game, and watched the other patrons. Most kept to themselves. One cat lady kept looking up at Icha from over her coffee, eyeing Icha up and down when she wasn't looking, but the lady either didn't notice the Doctor watching her or didn't care. Two cat men were talking at another table. The Doctor couldn't pick up every word, but he heard the words "power plant" and something about "restless slaves."

Icha's order was delivered, and the Doctor watched Icha as she tested the tea gingerly and popped a berry into her mouth.

It had been years since the Doctor had had a sweet berry. It was the common term for a red, strawberry-like fruit native only to the fourth, fifth, and eleventh sectors of the Gestaapa system, if he recalled correctly. The berries on Icha's little plate looked to be the juiciest he had ever seen, and he knew that just one of them would significantly brighten his day.

He was sure of it.

The Doctor waited impatiently as Icha sipped her tea and munched with excessive enjoyment on the sweet berries.

It wasn't fair.

He thought he could see only two berries left, but he wasn't going to beg. It was just a piece of fruit.

Icha sipped slowly on her tea, then bit down on another berry.

When she picked up the last one and didn't make the slightest move towards him, the Doctor reached for the closest bit of fur, which happened to be her delicately-strapped ankle.

The berry hovered near her feline lips, and Icha looked down into the Doctor's big eyes, his puppy expression switched on full.

The corners of her mouth turned up a little, but she made no move to appease him and simple watched.

_Oh, give me a break, _the Doctor groaned inwardly. He wasn't going to cave.

Icha smiled and made to eat the sweet berry.

The Doctor threaded his forearm through the stool's legs and wrapped it around Icha's lower leg, his hand coming to rest just below her knee, his elbow now at her ankle. He directed his full attention to the berry as Icha again dropped her eyes to look at him, and he prayed to Rassilon his complexion didn't come close to matching the fruit.

Icha giggled, appearing deeply amused. "Oh, you'll be the death of me, Marwari!" She passed the berry down to him and watched him eat it.

It was a very good sweet berry.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

"Well, that was a lovely walk, wasn't it?" Icha announced brightly after they had returned home.

The Doctor didn't bother answering, knowing the question to be rhetorical. Yes, by seeming conversational, you make one of the friendliest slavers, I'm sure, Icha.

The cat woman went upstairs and returned in her robe. She crawled onto the sofa, sent the Doctor off to make supper, and switched on the telly. Icha pet his head while finishing her programme, then afterwards clicked the screen off and turned to the Doctor. Surprised, he sat up and faced her, curious.

"I know you'll like this bit, Marwari." Icha grinned. The Doctor raised an eyebrow. Icha sighed, preparing to lecture him. "I'm taking you to a party. Other pets will be there, too, with their owners, but you'll be the best of them all!" The Doctor watched Icha, following so far. She clasped her hands together excitedly. "You're still pretty wild, and many pets there will be very tame, having spent many years with their owners. But you," Icha tapped him on the nose, momentarily making him go cross-eyed and blink, "are the smartest of all of them, I'm sure."

The Doctor was sure, too, but he really wished Icha would get on with her point.

"You learned very quickly how to show respect in public today, Marwari." She reached up to scratch his head, which seemed awkward given their height difference. "You've come to accept physical contact well enough with me, which strengthens the bond between pet and owner."

Yes, Icha, I'll do my best not to embarrass you, only because I don't want to be shocked. Where are you going with this?

Icha smiled conspiratorially, as if sharing a secret. "Only the smartest pets can speak."

The Doctor straightened, surprised.

The cat woman's face sobered. "I know you can speak quite fluently. While I may accept that you are able to, most people won't. You're lucky, Marwari."

He was silent, and didn't display any signs of disagreement. He knew his situation could be worse, but that didn't change the fact that he missed Rose terribly.

Icha knew he could speak, and the Doctor wanted to ask her why she wouldn't let him, even though he already knew the answer. Letting him speak freely would take an effort in Icha to change the way she interacted with her pets. Yes, she found it convenient that she only needed to instruct him once for him to understand what to do and how to behave, but he couldn't imagine the change in mindset it would take to let a slave rattle off the volume dynamics of spatial wake distortion in sequential order by craft velocity and consider the creature still beneath you.

Then again, the act might educe lesser minds to think him barking mad, and something more closely resembling everyday conversation might prove his point more effectively.

"It would normally take a great deal of practice for a pet to memorise the words and inflections necessary to be impressive, but you clearly have already had a great deal of practice with our language."

If Icha knew how many languages he could speak fluently, she would never tell him to do anything again.

"Now, I know you want to just babble away, but like I said, it's just rude! You wouldn't want to be rude at a party, would you?" The Doctor bobbed his eyebrows at her suggestively, causing Icha to hesitate. "Right, well, I won't have it. You only say these words, and only when I tell you to speak in front of people."

Icha proceeded to feed him a phrase carefully, as if it took a great deal of effort for him to remember them. She then asked him to say it back to her. She asked _him_ to speak. Why were his hearts pounding?

The Doctor said the words back to Icha quickly, eager to show her just how easily he could speak, and he wasn't shocked for it. She didn't seem surprised at all at how easily he repeated her.

"You've got them, but slow it down. It makes for a better show."

Biting his tongue, he said the simple words again, slower, until she was happy.

"Good, good. We'll practice more tomorrow. For now, bedtime!"

Yes, that was a great deal of fun, Icha. Enjoyed our little talk. The Doctor sighed and got up, picked up his pillow, and shuffled through the archway into the foyer. He showed himself into his cupboard, and Icha seemed pleased he was getting into a habit.

"Sleep well, Marwari. I'm proud of you. I can see you're going to be my most favourite pet!"

Icha climbed the stairs, and the Doctor waited in the darkness. He wouldn't be her most favourite if he could help it.

He opened his cupboard door. Pulling up the blankets from the under the lowest stairs, the Doctor picked up the pieces of scrap, strew them across the floor, and got to work.


	7. Opportunity

When Icha began to stir upstairs, the Doctor groaned out loud and stuck the tip of his tongue to his upper lip in concentration. Gingerly, he poked the last bit of wire around its connection next to the flux housing and pressed on it, making sure it was secure. He wouldn't have minded if a spark lit the house on fire, but unfortunately this society didn't generally use many flammable materials in a building's interior for genius reasons, which worked out very well for pet owners. The contents of the lounging room and library were in contrast _very_ flammable, but vandalising them wouldn't help him escape.

It _would _make Icha very, very cross. It's possible an unhappy Icha would take him back to the pet shoppe, which would be very good. If he wanted to upset Icha, he didn't have to burn anything down, however. No, he would save that for something that might actually give him an opportunity to get out of here.

So, while he wouldn't mind if the house burned down, he _would_ mind if this thing sparked over his cozy accommodations and lit up his blankets.

The Doctor hadn't found any light sources within the house he could salvage without breaking through a wall or at least having a tool to remove a fixture with, so he had made his own. It was a rudimentary flux flame common on Trayok IV, similar to how an incandescent bulb worked, but without the bulb. The scrapped coil interface from the library had a lovely tri-wax sheath that would substitute brilliantly, quite literally.

Someone had cheated with the wiring underneath the stairs and had run it along the edge and painted over it. He had contemplated creating a short, but the conduit was clearly too small to affect the mansion's important systems by doing so. He would likely only get so far as cutting off the only supply he had managed to find unprotected. After pinching the stringy contraption together with the frayed strands he had torn out of the conduit, the Doctor twisted the flux housing and was rewarded with a blinding orange glow from the sheath. The Doctor whooped in victory.

He hurriedly twisted it back off and leaned out the cupboard, scooping up the bits of metal and fiber he had been working with and tossed them into the growing mess of scrap corner in his cupboard and tucked the blanket over it. He left the flux flame wired in, hanging from the ceiling where he doubted it would be noticed by Icha. Now he could read! Well, not now, but tonight he could read, after Icha had gone to bed. The Doctor would sneak out first thing and grab one of the other books he dare not be found reading on the sofa lest Icha take it away from him.

"Sleep well, Marwari?"

The Doctor tipped his head out the cupboard door. Instead of Icha's off-white robe, she was dressed for public. From his reclined position on his poofy pillow, he grinned agreeably and shook his head. Unfortunately, Icha looked away a moment before and didn't catch it.

"I thought we might start with a walk today, right after breakfast. Doesn't that sound nice?"

It _did_ sound nice, but since Icha wasn't expecting an answer, the Doctor didn't bother letting her know just how much. He pushed off the floor to head for the kitchen and noticed how sore his fingers were from working the flux flame all night. It had taken a lot of time-consuming effort with no tools to construct, but it would be _so_ worth it!

After breakfast they went for a walk, but instead of heading towards town this time, they moved uphill through the wealthy residential area. The Doctor scanned the front of the homes for any sign of Rose as they passed, but he wasn't surprised when his efforts came up empty. He wondered if Icha was avoiding the pet shoppe and the possibility of another incident with an unruly pet. Icha practiced stopping many times, and the Doctor's reaction time shortened considerably since yesterday. She seemed satisfied with his progress, and they returned home.

Icha "quizzed" him on his painfully limited vocabulary, and the Doctor repeated the words without hesitation. She was pleased, and again reminded him he could only say it when she asked him to speak at the party. After a bit of telly, Icha left the Doctor in the lounging room, telling him she would be right back and slipped upstairs. She had left the screen on, and the Doctor lazed on the sofa waiting for her.

His pillow was getting a lot of use. He thought he might rub off his cheek with the heel of his hand as he stared at the telly, which replayed the same advert he'd seen a hundred times. A cat in a hover car was zipping along after a giant ball of yarn that seemed to roll away of its own accord. Suddenly, the ball started to unravel and entangled itself all over the hover car. To an annoyingly triumphant soundtrack, the voice over praised the hover technology for not even slowing a kph as the car proceeded to look more and more like the yarn ball itself. The latest model of the car was displayed, yarnless, with sparkling lights, then it cut back to the news programme. Why didn't Icha have a hover car?

The Doctor released his cheek, which started to ache, and rubbed the hand down his face as he groaned softly. How many more times would he see that advert? Couldn't this settlement charge a fee for entertainment rights and skip the commercial breaks like more enlightened societies?

He grabbed the screen's remote from across Icha's empty indentation on the sofa and made to change the channel. Instead, his gaze caught on the remote in sudden inspiration and he flipped it over, pondering if its insides could prove a useful combination with bits of coil interface scrap.

His ears registered the news flashing several uninteresting bits of domesticity as he pried off the battery cover, and something about a power station laborer going mad, apparently seeing things that weren't there. This last bit peaked the Doctor's interest when he heard his name being called. Well, the name he'd come to respond to. Finally something he wanted to watch, and Icha had to go summoning him for... what was he being summoned for?

Fixing the remote and putting it back, the Doctor got up and followed the sound of Icha's voice and nearly collided with her coming through the archway. She was dressed in her robe.

"There you are, Marwari. Come, come, here we go." Icha crossed the lounging room for the hallway. "I could use a massage, but you could use some practice even more, I think."

Grimacing behind Icha's back, the Doctor followed unenthusiastically into the PCOS room.

The calming music and gentle atmosphere with its center table didn't scare the Doctor nearly so much as it did yesterday. Instead, he found himself strangely eager to get started. He had missed an opportunity the last time. Yes, there was a risk involved, but could it be worth it?

Icha disrobed and stretched out, sighing happily. The woman had everything she thought she wanted in her own little world, queen of her mansion with her own personal faithful slave. What she didn't know was that this "faithful" slave would defy her and escape the first promising chance he got.

The Doctor engaged his task without hesitation, and he mused at how comfortable he had become with touching her in such a short time. As he put effort into the movements of his hands across Icha's back, he didn't miss the fact that this time he was wearing a shirt because he had done well before. He also found that he actually liked an aspect of the process in that it gave him something to do. It shared a common effect with tinkering with the TARDIS in that it gave him something to concentrate his mind on. While he wasn't nearly as comfortable doing this as he was crawling under the console, the action allowed other thoughts to slip through, and he could mull them over without actually paying attention to what he was doing.

It was in this fashion that after some time, the Doctor had made his way to Icha's shoulders and neck. Slowing, he thumbed the little circular tufts of fur growing opposite the rest near her collarbone and thought carefully. He had grown soft over the last few days, cracking under the muzzle of silence and being shaped into the role a proper slave was expected to fill. He had hoped that by gaining Icha's trust she would allow him privileges, like being able to speak, one of his more influential abilities.

He had failed to do so, however, and the Doctor feared that if he didn't take a chance soon, he would never see Rose again.

That opportunity he had been waiting for was now.

Leveling his breathing in resolve, he readied himself and drew his fingertips upward. The Doctor rubbed his thumbs behind Icha's feline ears and settled two fingers on either side of her temple, rubbing in little circles. A sharp arc of indecency suddenly pierced him as he realised what he was doing, and when Icha's purring faltered into a pleased hum, he feared she had picked up on the familiar nature of the act. It was common to touch one's mind at the temple as he had done countless times, and it was considered just polite as long as one didn't wander. Because he needed to keep moving to avoid suspicion, however, the Doctor had inadvertently created an implication of intimacy.

The Doctor was sure Icha wasn't aware of his species' propriety and was merely appreciating a good massage. Taking in a shuddering breath against his thudding hearts, he pressed forward.

He slipped her a mild suggestion, masking his entry. _Doesn't that feel good?_

Cautiously, he skirted under Icha's drifting awareness, attempting to locate the PCOS neural node that linked her mind to the system.

Just... _there!_

Careful to bottleneck the building storm beyond her perception, he focused on the spot it would be unleashed in a rush of violent mental energy.

Then, something went very, very wrong.

The Doctor didn't realise until too late that he hadn't accounted for the fact that by probing into Icha's mind, he had left the collar a rather vulnerable opening into his brain stem.

Fierce, burning pain ignited in his head and flared across his vision, overwhelming his senses. The Doctor yelped and lost sense of time.

The next thing he knew, he was coming to on the floor, his brain a live nest of angry nerve endings. The back of his head smarted terribly. He probed it with his fingers. No blood.

He was crumpled against the cupboard, somehow wet. Apparently, he had thrown himself backwards with enough force to slosh water from the fountain, which explained why the back of his head hurt.

"You're telepathic," Icha whispered.

The Doctor rubbed his head, grimacing, and looked up to the table. Icha was perched on the edge clutching her robe about her shoulders and staring at him, her expression one of horror that faded into disappointment. She knew what he had tried to do.

"Had I known, I would have thought to warn you that it's safeguarded against psychic assault."

The Doctor drew his eyes closed. Beaten.

Icha's whiskers trembled, and she blew out a breath threw her nose. Suddenly on her feet, she marched to the doorway, snatched his remote out of its sheath, and left the room.

He let her go. The Doctor had screwed up, and he didn't care where she was going. It didn't matter what she was doing, and he was content to sit on the floor against the cupboard and nurse his aching head.

Right, no he wasn't. The Doctor groaned and picked himself up, staggering to the door. He blinked at the brighter light of the hallway and peered both ways. No sign of Icha.

The Doctor pulled back into the room, leaning against the doorframe for support. It wasn't like her to just leave him without telling him what to do while she was gone or how long she would be. She wasn't herself at the moment, understandably.

His eyes were drawn to the collar remote sheath on the wall next to the doorway.

Maybe it hadn't all been a waste.

Peering out into the hallway again and finding it clear, the Doctor shook himself, attempting to clear his head. Come on, all this lazing about and now it was time to do something! He ran his fingers over the sheath's casing and found a catch. Oh ho, not so pet proof, are you? The Doctor pulled the casing away and squinted in excitement at the circuits, wishing he had his glasses to complete the mood. The idea wasn't to break it so much as reroute its signals, subverting its functions. He didn't want Icha to find it wouldn't turn on and suspect foul play. He wanted Icha to think it _was_ working when it really wasn't.

He poked and prodded, wishing he had his sonic screwdriver. Hell, he'd settle for one of the spork-shaped parts from his scrap heap, but he didn't dare risk losing this opportunity to go get it.

PCOS zapped him once, but it felt like nothing compared to what he had just endured. He bit his lip, seeing the tiny pin he wanted but was unable to reach it properly. Staring off across the room, he set his mouth in a line of concentrated effort as he felt his way to it. Finally, he found it and pressed.

The system sparked and powered down.

No, no, no, no!

The Doctor cursed and peered out the door. Still no Icha. He returned to the panel and squinted. He had knocked out the right pin, but he had also loosened the one next to it. Feeling his way in again, he managed to trip it and PCOS flared back to life. He sighed, relieved, and grinned at his accomplishment. He replaced the sheath's casing.

Now what?

Apologise, that's what. He had to salvage what he could of Icha's trust, which couldn't be much, but it was all he really had. If he didn't make amends, he could lose all hope of finding another opportunity again.

The Doctor retrieved the door's key from the cupboard, left the room, and locked the door behind him. It felt strange to be in possession of a key. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen the same lock on any other door.

Icha surely hadn't gone towards the library, and she never used the bathing room he did. He headed for the lounging room.

She wasn't in it.

He headed under the archway and found the foyer empty as well. Deciding Icha had gone upstairs, the Doctor stepped onto the first stair and looked up. Icha had said going upstairs would shock him. He settled onto the second stair and hugged his bare legs to his chest and waited.

The Doctor realised he had begun to descend into a healing torpor when he heard a soft sound from above, and his eyes snapped open.

Icha gazed down at him from the landing, a look of sympathy on her face. He swallowed and lifted the key for her to see. She studied it a moment, then smiled softly.

"I was angry with you, Marwari, but I couldn't bring myself to hurt you more than you had already suffered. So, I left, and I've been thinking." She started slowly down the stairs. "Perhaps you meant to do what you did. Perhaps you didn't. Maybe you wanted to know me better and that was your way of connecting with me, I don't know. Or maybe you don't have full control over your ability and it just slipped. If that's the case, then I'm sorry to put you in that position." Icha seated herself on the stairs above him and gently took the key from his hand, looking kindly into his eyes.

The Doctor stared back at Icha, trying very hard not to let his incredulity show through.

Was she for real? Icha not only deluded herself about slavery in general like a high percentage of the population, but also about how the Doctor perceived her. Was it because she was partial to him, or did she rationalise bad behaviour in all of her pets? If she let other pets get away with similar acts of defiance, how did that translate into her apparently being an advanced handler?

It was more likely Icha very much knew what he was about and was trying to throw him off. In any case, the Doctor couldn't complain about lack of punishment.

Icha grinned at him widely. "There, now! We've got that out of the way! Now that you've learned another of your boundaries, we don't have to deal with that one anymore! Learning is sometimes hard at first, Marwari, but it will get better!" She reached out and ruffled the Doctor's hair, much to his annoyance.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The rest of the day passed without further incident. Before turning in for the night, the Doctor was made to recite his words again, and Icha praised him and told him he was ready.

"There's one more thing. The party is day after next, and I had planned to skip tomorrow. Little Jelei's turning six tomorrow, and her mother Mees has just been begging me to come. I told her I was busy with a new pet, and she understood, naturally. I've been thinking, though. A birthday party would be an excellent test of your behaviour in public. I don't know how you are with children, but Jelei's quite the little darling and I'm sure you'll do just fine."

As Icha ascended the stairs, the Doctor stood in the foyer with mixed feelings. The idea of getting out of the house and doing something and meeting people sounded brilliant, but he was familiar with the word "darling" and knew it had two very different definitions. Deciding he could do nothing about it right now, the Doctor stuffed his pillow into the cupboard and secreted inside and closed the door.

There were more important things to do right now.

The flux flame switched on easily, and the Doctor beamed. Wary about the light being cast through the slats of his door, he secured a blanket up over the door and fluffed his pillow just right while he waited. He really could only sit one way comfortably due to his height. When he was satisfied Icha was tucked away for the night, he excitedly twisted the light off and stole towards the library at a swift but silent run. He felt more alive at night than during the day, just as he imagined a house cat would.

The Doctor had memorised where the books he wanted were and went right to them. He piled them on the table while he selected, then picked up the stack of eight and brought them to his cupboard.

When safe inside with his flux flame burning brightly, the Doctor spent the night reading all his possibly forbidden books in hopes of learning more about the history of this settlement and a clue to as to why its catkind had turned into slavers.


	8. Horses

Despite the clouds scudding before the sun and a light breeze cooling the Doctor's skin, it was still a bright warm day. He walked leashed behind Icha up the hill through the residences towards Jelei's house. While he was anxious about their destination, he didn't have much time to think on it. He had learned much the night before and was running the information through his head, trying to connect anything of value.

Unless the books were from another planet, the Doctor was indeed on the planetoid Paurin. Even though none of the books had been general history books like he suspected his original choice was, he was able to pick up little facts along the way. _Making Way for Cottonelle_, an agricultural reference, was mostly about the development methods of the material over the years. The purpose of the book wasn't interesting, but there were snippets here and there that were. An event referred to as the Awakening caused certain production machines to be retired and replaced by more "advanced" ones. Certain families were said to come into more fortune than others due to their influence and number of acquired slaves available to do the labor.

Another book named _Geban's Tale_ also referred to this Awakening and described in detail the story of a cat person before this event. While a dramatic tale, only a few parts were of intellectual value. The man's life was told from the perspective of a member of a minority race and its related hardships. Some of the trials were not unlike the Doctor's current situation, but he had the feeling a great deal of them were exaggerated.

The book the Doctor really wanted to get his hands on was _Paurin, a History_. Icha hid it upstairs, and the Doctor not only wondered what he would have to do to earn the right to read it, but how to let Icha know he wanted it if he couldn't talk.

The estate holding the birthday party wasn't as big as Icha's, but it was still quite impressive and a hell of a lot more lively. The expansive front lawns were teeming with activity, and the Doctor wondered just how differently his life on Paurin would have been had he found himself slaved here just a couple blocks away instead of at Icha's place. Laughing children played together on one side amidst carefully cropped trees of violet and gold and shrubs of every other colour. Some ran chasing each other between clusters of adults who stood around chatting and sipping from glinting crystal glasses.

As they crossed the front of the property towards the assembly, the Doctor looked down at his attire. Icha had greeted him this morning with another box, this one full of an assortment of pants and shorts. She told him he could pick out a pair to use for parties, but that it wasn't actually a gift. Depending on how well he behaved today and tomorrow, he could be allowed to keep them.

It was hardly party wear, but the Doctor was grateful to not look completely ridiculous. Along with his slim-fitting white shirt he now had simple black trousers of a fairly sturdy material. They were a couple of sizes too big for him, but he had pulled off a belt from another article in the box to use with them and Icha didn't make a fuss. Some of the choices hadn't been long enough in the leg, but his selection suited him well enough.

Now feeling more normal than ever and just a little more confident despite the blue leash leading him along loosely by the collar, the Doctor concentrated on those around him.

Every single person not of catkind was obviously a slave, and it's these people that drew his attention first. They all wore collars and seemed to have a similar amount of clothing as he did, and the Doctor had to wonder if it was due to the party setting. Perhaps he wasn't the only one to think it would be rude to show up at a party wearing pet shoppe attire. A few slaves were leashed to the front gate whispering to each other or looking around, some bored and some enthralled by the events. Some slaves crouched at the end of leashes with their owners or walked normally behind them. Yet others carried trays of refreshments whom the Doctor assumed belonged to the estate.

No Rose.

Icha led the Doctor across the lawn towards people who obviously recognised her. They smiled, waved, and cheered her for coming and told her how good it was to see her. When they stopped, the Doctor remembered to crouch at Icha's heel, but he found it an uncomfortably new experience to be looking up at people from so close. After the lengthy pleasantries, all eyes turned to the Doctor. Icha prompted him to stand with a little tug on the leash next to his collar. Surprised, the Doctor gladly stood.

"Tress told us you had a new pet," one man in a smart suit commented and brushed at his whiskers, looking the Doctor up and down. "She said you intended to take him to the Zel Power Appreciation Dinner."

Icha smiled. "I do indeed. He's really quite remarkable."

The Doctor wondered if Icha would have him speak for them and pulled out a grin that he didn't quite feel. While he was glad to be out and meeting people, these weren't really the type of folks he wanted to be meeting. He raised a hand in a little wave of greeting and immediately tensed, unsure of himself. He checked with Icha to see if she objected, and while she was watching him closely to see how he interacted with her friends, her smile didn't waver and his collar didn't buzz.

One of the ladies tittered. "Oh, how he's polite! What's his name?"

"Marwari," Icha answered fondly.

The woman looked delighted but confused. "Lovely name. It sounds familiar, but I can't place it..."

"Like the horse. Rich brown coat, sort of leggy."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yes, of course!" the woman exclaimed, not sounding like she understood at all.

"He's very smart," Icha crowed. "I have no doubt he could pick up any task I throw at him. He's mastered cooking in just a couple of days."

The Doctor frowned. Icha never showed him how to cook, and it's not like he didn't know how to before.

The group made other useless observations. The Doctor was hardly unaccustomed to being the center of attention, but he found the situation rather demeaning.

"I'll be right back," Icha assured them. "Mees wouldn't forgive me for not at least saying hello to the birthday girl!"

The group giggled and waved Icha off, and the Doctor followed her across the main pathway to an area three little girls were playing. One girl looked up and smiled a little cat-toothed grin. "Hello, Mistress Icha!"

"Hello there, Jelei, you little dear. Happy Birthday!"

Jelei wore a pretty little pink and gold dress with a small frill around her hips, giving it a hint of the tutu look without the bother. Her tawny coat sported an attractive scattering of dark spots. Icha crouched and, eyes bright, the small girl ran up to give her a hug.

"I'm so glad you could come! Did you see my tea party?"

"I see it, yes!" Icha said, glancing behind Jelei. "Very beautiful! Are you having a tea party with your friends?"

The Doctor wondered if just maybe he could unclip his leash and run for it while Icha was distracted. He had no idea what the collar's range was. Before he had made a decision, however, Icha had tugged on the leash, and the Doctor reluctantly dropped to crouch beside her. Icha then stood up.

"This is Marwari. He's my new pet."

Jelei's eyes went to him, as if noticing he was there for the first time. Her expression didn't show much interest. "He's too tall."

Icha giggled. "For you he is. For me he's not. But look, he doesn't have to stand up if you don't want him to."

Jelei reached out and tugged a bit on the Doctor's hair.

"Can he play with me?"

The Doctor froze. No, I'm Icha's pet. She's very territorial. I'm a total drag at tea parties.

"Sure, go ahead. He understands very well, so tell him what you want him to do. Happy Birthday, dear."

The Doctor craned his neck to look up at Icha, his eyes pleading. Icha put a furry hand to the side of his face. She gave him a knowing look.

"Be good, Marwari. No speaking."

The Doctor swallowed as Icha unclipped his leash. He watched her hips sway as she walked back the way they had come towards the watching faces of her friends.

Jelei squealed, and the Doctor started. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, telling himself he wanted to keep his trousers.

Unfortunately, he didn't see it coming when he was suddenly jerked by the collar, forced off balance into the grass.

"Come on!" Jelei squealed again. "I'm having my birthday tea party!"

The Doctor peered over to see Icha watching him carefully. He sighed, picked himself up, and shuffled over to Jelei's little table. Jelei's two playmates looked at him sourly.

"Go away," Jelei told them. "I don't wanna play with you anymore."

One of the girls started to cry, but the other one rolled her little eyes like she was used to it and dragged the crying girl off. The Doctor watched them go tolerantly, knowing there was nothing he could do, then looked down at the little table.

Four tiny tea cups the size of shot glasses that had clearly already been used sat haphazardly on its surface. Jelei picked up a matching tea pot and began pouring into one of the cups. There was no way the Doctor could sit in one of the chairs, so he just crouched next to the table and watched her with hooded eyes.

"I'm six today!" Jelei exclaimed. She picked up the filled tea cup, spilling some, and held it out for him. The Doctor took it gingerly, not wanting her to scream. Jelei stared at him, waiting. "Go on, drink it!"

The Doctor sighed and looked over his shoulder. Icha was watching, amused. He looked back to Jelei. Since a six-year old was hardly expected to know to pour her own cup first, the Doctor pretended to take a sip. The liquid was cold on his lips.

Jelei took a step forward and looked down into the Doctor's cup. She frowned and looked into his face and chastised him. "You're supposed to drink it all!"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. Where did this child learn to drink tea? When Jelei's miffed expression didn't subside, he sighed again and raised the cup to his lips. Throwing his head back, the Doctor emptied the cup in one go. He swallowed and forced a smile while suppressing the urge to gag. It was certainly tea in the cup, but Jelei's parents clearly didn't supply her with the means to serve it properly.

Jelei became ecstatic and giggled, snatching the cup from the Doctor's weak grip and returning to the table. "Mummy says I can have my very own pet when I'm older!" She poured the cup full again, and the Doctor wilted. He didn't think he could take another cupful of the stuff. "Mummy says I can have my own pony! She thinks it's a surprise, but I know she's getting me one." Jelei set the teapot down slowly, and the Doctor could almost see the heinous thought seep into her little brain. She turned to him, eyes wide. "You can be my pony!"

Dismayed, the Doctor stared back and shook his head.

Jelei was shocked and quickly became angry, screaming, "But I want a pony ride!"

The Doctor held out his hands placatingly, not daring to look behind him at Icha. Jelei glared at him, and he looked to the forgotten cup of tea on the table. He supposed some good could come out of appeasing the girl if he didn't have to drink it. Slowly, he lowered his hands to the grass.

Once again, Jelei's mood completely reversed and she jumped about squealing in delight. The Doctor grimaced as his ears were assaulted. Jelei clambered onto his back, at first using his collar as a handhold. He rememdied the situation by pulling the collar tight against the back of his neck, making her choose to use his shoulders instead. Once she was steady, he moved forward on his hands and knees, and Jelei giggled as he crawled about on the lawn. The Doctor hoped he wouldn't ruin his only pair of trousers and pondered on how he could stoop to such a low as this.

Jelei pounded her little fist on his shoulder. "Faster, faster!"

The Doctor growled, but before he had to do anything, a woman called out.

"Attention, everyone, attention!" The cat woman held up her hands to everyone around as they turned towards her and quieted. "Thank, you, yes. Thank you all for coming to my daughter's sixth birthday party!" The woman, apparently Jelei's mother, Mees, smiled excitedly. "While little Jelei has been appreciating most of her birthday gifts all morning, I would like to take this opportunity to present to Jelei and everyone here her best gift yet!" Mees looked to her daughter who sat atop the Doctor's back, and everyone's eyes followed. The Doctor didn't move and grinned self-consciously, feeling somewhat foolish.

Jelei jumped off the Doctor's back and squealed again, and he was grateful when she ran away from him towards her mother.

Mees beamed at Jelei. "There you are! Are you ready for your present?"

"Uh huh!" Jelei giggled.

Mees raised a hand in presentation towards the side of the house. "Here you are, my darling! Happy Birthday!"

From around the building and through an archway, a slave led a small tawny-coated pony with a white mane towards Mees and Jelei. The assembled guests cheered.

The Doctor stood and brushed the grass from his trousers. Mees looked down to her daughter, but he couldn't see Jelei's face. Whatever it was like, it caused Mees' expression to fall with uncertainty.

"I wanted a _pink_ pony!"

There was a hush across the lawn as Mees stared down at Jelei.

"Well, darling, the honey-coated pony is the closest there is to pink. See? It matches your fur!"

"I wanted pink!" Jelei insisted crossly.

"There are no pink ponies, Jelei!"

"Well, _make_ it pink, then!"

Mees apologised to the crowd and knelt in front of Jelei, exchanging words quietly. Nervous conversation broke out, and the Doctor looked to Icha. She had been distracted by the events as well but had enough of a mind to look to him and wave him back over. The Doctor shuffled to Icha's side and crouched while she reattached his leash.

Jelei refused to ride the pony, and Mees shooed her back to play with her other birthday gifts. The slave holding the pony looked uncertain and a bit bored as he was made to stand there waiting.

Jelei's friends joined her to play, and the party droned on as Mees spoke animatedly with a well-dressed man. The Doctor stayed crouched at Icha's side while she made small talk with other cat people.

Cake was served, and the Doctor had to endure watching people eat it without any for himself. He wanted cake, too, but he was just a slave, and apparently slaves didn't get cake. He tried a hand below Icha's knee, but she only giggled down at him and polished off her plate.

He seriously hoped tomorrow's party would be less frustrating.

Finally, the Doctor heard a commotion from the children's area. Jelei was making a fuss and screaming at her friends. One of the girls screamed back at her, and the other one began crying. They left Jelei, presumably running off to their parents to complain.

The Doctor felt a hand on his head, and he looked up.

"Why don't you go play with Jelei, Marwari. She seems to like you." Icha unclipped his leash.

He groaned inwardly. _Please, no..._

At Icha's prompting, the Doctor got up and walked across the lawn. He supposed he could at least enjoy the walking part.

He reached the little tea table and frowned down at Jelei, who looked up at him crossly.

Icha was the one with the shocker remote, not Jelei.

The Doctor turned his back to Icha and crouched at the table. By his position, he judged she couldn't see Jelei very well either. Picking up the teapot and a teacup, he poured, making sure to keep his hands busy and appear to be playing silently and innocently with the birthday girl.

Adopting his most conversational tone, he asked quietly, "Have you ever met a pet that could talk?"

Jelei looked up and stared at him in disbelief, implying she had probably not.

Her mouth started to open in a scream, but the Doctor did his best to look like he didn't care and cut in quickly, "You probably haven't, but that's not surprising. Most pets don't talk." He leaned in and handed Jelei a cup, momentarily diverting her focus. The Doctor bobbed his eyebrows and whispered significantly, "I'm a magic pet!"

Jelei hesitated, and then her little mouth closed.

The Doctor gave her a winning smile. "And that pony over there?" He pointed secretly, then leaned in confidentially again with the teapot, making to add more tea to her cup. "That's a magic pony." The little girl looked from the pony to the Doctor in shock, her eyes bulging further. "We're friends, me and her. Known each other for ages. Her name's Jasmine." He sniffed and idly poured himself a cup. "I'm different than her, though. I'm different than most pets, really. Me? I'll talk to anyone. Jasmine, though," he gestured to the pony and paused seriously, "only talks to people she likes."

Jelei stared at him while he put his teacup to his tightly sealed lips, and her face twisted into a scowl. "You're lying."

The Doctor frowned back, affronted. "Am not."

"Are too!"

"Am not," he singsonged and looked away as if losing interest, checking Icha's location. Still with her friends, smiling proudly and watching them.

Jelei studied him up and down, then said, "Prove it."

The Doctor sniffed again and thought quickly, pulling back one side of his mouth as if in difficult contemplation. "All right... but I can't talk in front of the grown-ups, so don't ask me any questions in front of them. Otherwise they'll take me away, and then I won't be able to talk to Jasmine." He put his teacup down and extended his hand. "It'll be our little secret. Deal?"

Jelei looked suspiciously to the pony again, then shook his hand. "Deal."

The Doctor grinned. "Oh she's gonna love you. She might even let you paint her pink." He frowned. "I wouldn't do it without her permission, though. She's a bit particular. Might even tell all the pink ponies not to like you."

Standing, the Doctor waited for Jelei. She looked up at him critically, then began marching towards the pony. He fell into step behind Jelei and glanced over at a dubious-looking Icha. The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and did his best to look ignorant.

Knowing he was being watched carefully, the Doctor approached the pony just behind Jelei. She looked up at him, as if waiting for him to do something. Unfortunately, the Doctor hadn't thought this far ahead. He motioned side to side with his eyes at the grown-ups, indicating his hands were tied.

Jelei looked at the slave holding the pony's bridle, then at her mother. "I wanna ride Jasmine!"

Mees' confusion turned to delight at seeing her daughter begin to cooperate. "Oh my dear, you gave her a name? You're willing to give it a go, then?"

"I didn't _give _her the name. It _is_ her name!"

Mees had the slave hold the bridle tightly and moved to pick Jelei up. As she placed the girl on the saddle, guests across the green cheered at the birthday girl. Making an instant decision, the Doctor stepped over to the other slave and grabbed hold of the reins. The slave was resistant, but the Doctor leaned in and whispered, "It's fine, I'm with Jelei. Watch this!"

The Doctor looked around, but no one seemed to have noticed. The slave hesitated but finally let go, and the Doctor stepped up to the pony's head. He made a show of patting the pony. Mees stood next to Jelei as if to steady her, and Jelei watched the Doctor.

Now what was he supposed to do? The Doctor racked his brain, but it wasn't like he could make the pony talk. Making it happy wasn't going to do anything convincing, either, so as the girl stared at him with waning patience, he decided on the opposite.

Leaning forward, he pulled the pony's head to his and surreptitiously whispered into her ear so that only Jelei could see. The ear rotated towards him.

Obviously, the words were meaningless to the pony. What wasn't meaningless was the way his fingers covertly probed behind her cheekbone just under her ear in order to project a rather unsettling mental allusion. Beasts weren't known for their reasoning capabilities, but fear was something common to almost every species.

The Doctor pulled his head away just in time as the pony suddenly jerked her head upwards with a shriek and reared.

Mees cried out and held her arms out for Jelei, but thankfully Jelei held on.

Ever the dutiful slave, the Doctor forcefully reined in the pony. He gripped her head, attempting to sooth her mind.

Jelei's face was a picture of absolute shock and horror. The Doctor caught her eye and rested his head behind the pony's, hiding his face from view of the crowd. He mouthed, "She doesn't like you!"

The girl stared for a moment, then began to tear up.

"Be nice!" he whispered.

Jelei sobbed and patted the pony's withers.

"Oh, Jelei, are you all right?" Mees made to pick her up off the saddle. "My poor baby!"

"NO, Mummy!" Jelei yelled and refused to be moved. The Doctor grinned. He had counted on her stubborn streak to come through.

His smile caught the attention of Jelei's mother, and she looked at him. "And what are you grinnin' like a loon for? Think this is funny, do you?"

The Doctor immediately sobered and he shook his head, tending to the pony's reins.

He suddenly jumped when his collar buzzed. _Damn._

Icha was glaring at him from the crowd. Unable to do anything more, the Doctor passed the reins to the other slave. He noticed the slave was fighting to hide his own amusement.

He returned to Icha and crouched at her heel. He expected harsh words, but when he looked up at her face, he found Icha was concentrating on Jelei. The Doctor followed her line of sight.

All signs of pride had left the girl. Jelei was currently hugging the pony's neck and patting her fur affectionately, a look of humility on her face. Mees stood by, watching in amazement.

Murmurs started up across the assembled guests. Icha looked down at him with a sly smile. The Doctor sported his best poker face, and she looked back up at the girl on the pony.

He wondered just how much she knew of what he had done.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

After returning home, Icha went upstairs and told the Doctor to meet her at the door to the PCOS room. His apprehension spiked, and waiting at the door gave him plenty of time to ponder on how well or how _not_ well his jiggery-pokery on its systems was going to work.

When Icha unlocked the door and they went inside, everything seemed normal. She placed his shocker remote into the PCOS sheath by the door, and when the Doctor saw the blue light come on, he breathed a sigh of relief. Icha made to undress, but suddenly she looked up in curiousity. The Doctor heard it, too.

At first, it was almost indecipherable from the low hum around the room, but the whine of an overload grew in pitch and volume. The Doctor looked all around hoping to find some way of stopping it, but it was no good.

The blue light clicked off and was replaced by the other light flashing mauve. Thankfully, the overload was aborted by the safety system, and the Doctor was left to wonder just what he had done wrong.

"Oh, no," Icha breathed. She went to the sheath and pulled out the remote, then placed it back in. Nothing happened.

Anxiously, the Doctor watched as she tried to figure out what had happened to PCOS, and he desperately hoped Icha wouldn't find out he had done it. He put on his best face of bewilderment each time she looked at him. Icha knew he was clever, but if she knew he was at fault, she didn't let on.

In the end, Icha grumbled and locked them out of the PCOS room. She went upstairs, leaving the Doctor on the sofa. After supper, they watched more telly and the Doctor had to endure being pet more. His thoughts had turned from PCOS to the day ahead.

The Zel Power Appreciation Dinner, the man had called it. It would definitely be a more adult setting and would attract a different crowd. Maybe he would see Rose there?


	9. Zel Power

It was the one time he was not only allowed to speak, but encouraged to. It wouldn't get him anywhere to make a bad job of it, so the Doctor decided he might as well make the most of it. Besides, he wanted to keep his "party pants". He grinned. If anything, he would show Icha he could be perfectly civil. "Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. I hope you're enjoying the party." The Doctor beamed at a tawny woman with black stripes in a red-frilled number and pumped his voice full of polite appreciation. "Madame, your dress is quite lovely."

Apparently, his actions were deserving of giggles from the ladies around Icha.

"He knows Rudeese!" one exclaimed.

"Don't be stupid," another replied, "She trained him to say those words. He doesn't know what he's saying."

"Still... he says them perfectly! He's so cute! I wish I could train my pets half as well as Icha can."

"How did you teach him so soon? Didn't you just get him?"

The Doctor admitted the woman made a good point. He hadn't been with Icha for long from a training perspective. While he found the "memorisation" easy, someone who couldn't understand his slaver's language would find it difficult. Icha had claimed she would have him ready for the party right after walking out of the pet shoppe. Upon seeing him speak for the first time, she had instantly known what kind of benefit to her it would be.

"That would be telling, wouldn't it?" Icha replied. The Doctor felt her hand at his hip, and he wilted. Apparently, playtime was over. He settled down next to Icha's leg as she continued to make conversation. "Speaking of your pets, where is Precious? You didn't bring her?"

Her? The Doctor looked up to the woman Icha was talking to with interest. Could Rose be Precious? His hopes instantly fell when he realised that wasn't likely. He knew firsthand Icha hadn't been out with her friends for a week, except for the birthday party yesterday. Rose would be a new pet, not an existing one Icha would be familiar with.

Then again, how long had he been unconscious before waking up in the pet shoppe? He had assumed he had only been out for a few hours. The Doctor frowned, uncertain.

"No, she's been a right terror lately. It wouldn't do to have her here making a scene."

The Doctor disagreed. A bit of a riot was exactly what this party needed to liven it up, but since no one asked him, he instead scanned the crowd.

The party was being held in the Zel Power Station's main atrium. The building was huge compared to most others in town. Before tonight, Icha had only taken him through the edge of town. He knew now they were currently in the town's center.

Even from the atrium, the Doctor could feel the undercurrent of the station's power generation. From its sound and vibration pattern, he was sure it was some variation of a quad-valve plasma fission system. It was common in this age and area, mostly for its portability for use in colonisation projects. It was light weight enough to haul on a seeder vessel mostly intact and required little assembly once planted.

The volume of it and strength of its vibrations seemed too high, however, and the Doctor had to wonder if they had made shortcuts in the insulation process.

The five-story ceiling was utilitarian and unfinished, which contrasted sharply with the fine decor of golds and blues at ground level. Parties appeared to be typical here.

If Rose was here, he would find her. The Doctor studied the throng of people, one person at a time. He scanned over faces and between legs, looking for a crouching slave he would recognise. After he had searched in all directions, his hopes began to fall that Rose was here.

He looked over and imagined now, just there, he would see her at that man's heel. She would be looking about, seemingly unaware of how beautiful she was even as a slave; looking for him as if nothing else mattered. Her eyes would catch on his, and she would beam at him helplessly with her gorgeous smile. The Doctor would find a way to break off from Icha and free Rose, too. They would rush through the crowd, hand in hand, and make their escape. Where was the TARDIS? It was probably still on Gestaapa Prime, so the Doctor would have to steal a ship-

Icha had moved.

The Doctor scrambled to his feet before the leash could pull him off balance and reprobated himself for becoming distracted. It wouldn't do to fall on his face at a party. When Icha stopped again, he lowered himself again to the floor and waited.

Bored, the Doctor thought to himself that if something interesting didn't happen soon, he would be forced to create an interesting something. He tried listening to Icha's conversation with her fine friends, but the topic of which colour dresses suited which fur shades best was about as alluring as Icha's daytime soaps. His attention wandered to the length of leg Icha's short dress afforded him.

She was wearing the same fancy blue suit he had first seen her in at the pet shoppe, and he had to wonder if the combination of her attire and his position just below and behind her were done on purpose. The flawless snowy fuzz of her fur looked soft and pliant, and before he gave it any thought, his gaze moved upward to rest just under the hem. He had seen a lot more of Icha's fur, even touched it, and the Doctor prided himself at not reacting much to such things, but it was funny what a short skirt could do. He told himself it was more out of curiousity than anything else, and he believed it until he imagined the stretch of fur as naked flesh tinged slightly... pinker.

The Doctor looked away, feeling slightly pink himself. He had to stop obsessing about Rose before it drove him mad.

A male slave crouched next to a woman not far away, watching him. The man grinned, having noticed the Doctor's wandering eyes and embarrassed reaction. The Doctor grinned back weakly and wondered what sort of hardships the man had to endure himself and how similar their situations were. His slaver began to move, and the man followed after her away from the Doctor and Icha.

Another slave wearing a similar outfit as he was approached with a tray, of what he couldn't tell from his angle, until the feline guests above him plucked up o'derves. The Doctor's mouth watered, and he wondered if there was food for pets available-not that he could go for a wander to find out. He couldn't even just ask.

To his surprise and delight, Icha passed an o'derve down to him, and it didn't smell like fish. He fingered it from her hand carefully and sniffed it, tested it with the tip of his tongue, then popped it into his mouth. It was tasty, but only just. He couldn't call it filling, but it was satisfying enough.

After what felt like hours, someone stepped up to the platform in front and greeted the guests over a loudspeaker.

"Welcome, welcome, citizens of Paurin." He was a black-furred man, white about the whiskers and chin, wearing an emerald green suit jacket. He had a good smile. "Thank you all for coming to the Zel Power Appreciation Dinner in honor of all your hard work at the plant. Tonight is about friends and food, of course. Before dinner is served, however, we ask your attention during a short presentation for those of you not as familiar with our latest accomplishments as those of us who are here everyday."

The Doctor paid attention. From his position, he couldn't see the platform very well, but he was happy to confirm they were indeed on Paurin, and the information he had so far read about it would likely be true as well, from a perspective.

"First of all, I'd like to publicly appreciate a few folks. Without their involvement, Zel Power would never be what it is today. Gerra Ken, your leadership throughout the years has been instrumental to the integrity of our workforce. I don't know how you do it, but you've gotten us this far!" Heads turned, apparently to the cat person being appreciated, and people cheered. "Fusem Peratorrlei, our recent discovery of your ingenious talents have benefited us all in ways we can never repay. The adaptation technology we've been able to apply to the combination of our old and new systems would never have been found without you!" Again, the crowd cheered.

"And of course, where would we be without the late Mr. Ureg Nubien?" The Doctor frowned as the assembled guests went unusually silent. The name was familiar... "His guidance and direction will be with us always in the form of our continued success."

Wild cheers erupted all around him, some heads turning his direction, and the Doctor twigged and looked up. Of course, Icha Nubien.

He couldn't see Icha's face. Some of her friends touched her tenderly on the shoulder, and she appeared to be accepting the attention gracefully enough.

The cheers died down, and a holographic screen flickered on behind the man on the platform. The Doctor strained to see around people. His first thought was to stand, of course, but would it really be worth Icha's ire? What did he care, anyway, about a dull speech?

"As you are all aware, our Paurin establishment's power costs have risen over the years. Zel Power has worked tirelessly to meet the needs of our society. There have been a few hard times, yes," the black-furred man paused with a grin as chuckles of agreement came from the crowd. "We all know what that's about, don't we? Yes, well I'm here to tell you tonight that our struggle is over!"

A cheer went up above the Doctor. He could tell by the level of enthusiasm that this news was important to these people.

When everyone had quieted down, the man continued and the Doctor could see the screen was flashing. "Our journey from a small town source to what we are now hasn't been easy, but as you can see, we're enjoying the results even now."

He was able to pick out just snippets of the holographic presentation between the shoulders of the guests. At first, the Doctor assumed his confusion was due to seeing only a small part of it as images were moved about the screen, but after a few moments, he knew it couldn't be right.

The Doctor slowly rose to his feet, staring hard at the incredible information being displayed to all, as if it were normal.

"Systems have been successfully fused seamlessly as of last week. A few expected interruptions in service were quickly resolved shortly after launch, and the new core has been running splendidly ever since. While we continue to monitor everything closely, I invite you all to take time to enjoy the fruits of our labour. You've all earned it!"

Everyone made some noise, but the Doctor tuned it out. He was concentrating fully on the screen before him.

A timeline of the plant's progress was displayed along the top. The Doctor recognised the first image as standard quad-valve plasma fission, just as he had suspected. Even the second image was an acceptable variation of the first with its tried and tested peripherals of an outpost that had prospered for whatever reason and had outgrown its original configuration.

The rest of the images in the timeline, however, were just completely _wrong._

The plant had grown and grown down into the ground, so much so that the last image dominated the entire right half of the projection. It explained why he could so easily feel it even from this room.

The lower left of the screen showed the layout of the original outpost in black. The formation of a township created mostly residential areas and farmland all around it in green. The Doctor even worked out where Icha's house would be in the hills to the northeast.

None of it came close to explaining why the plant would have advanced past Stage Two.

If the Paurin settlement struggled with its power needs for all this time, where was all that extra power going? What could they possibly need it for?

He knew where at least some of it was going. Four-valve plasma fission was known for losing its output efficiency exponentially in tests when pushed past Stage Two. These designs showed no hint of secondary generators. He had never heard of it being done because it was just stupid. In an effort to create more energy, they were having a third of it just dissipate.

The Doctor barely registered that Icha had turned around and was glowering at him. He ignored her at first, furiously studying the images for a clue, but Icha insisted with a hand to the front of his hip. Anger rising, the Doctor turned his smoldering glare to her in challenge. _How can you people be so daft? Or do you know something you're not telling me?_

Icha flinched for a fraction of a second, then returned one of her own. When he didn't relent, she insisted again. The collar buzzed.

The Doctor started and broke eye contact, and he chastised himself for being weak. He closed his eyes, drew in a quivering breath, and lowered his head in defeat. There was no point in resisting-she wouldn't listen.

The holography was switched off, and the guests around them were now moving as a whole towards the tables. Icha began to move with them, so the Doctor followed her instead of dropping down like she had originally wanted. As they began to move, he caught a few nervous glances from Icha's female companions. He didn't bother returning anything.

Icha laid the leash across her chair and seated herself on top of it. She left him plenty of slack for if he needed to move about, but it was obvious he was meant to stay crouched next to her. Icha and the others began chatting about the dinner, and soon slaves began filing out of the kitchen with the first course.

The food was tempting, sure, but the Doctor wasn't interested in begging for it. He just wasn't in the mood. Instead, he tried to pick up on the conversations of those around him that didn't involve how delicious the meal was or how it compared to that of previous functions.

Try as he may, he couldn't hear anything of interest.

Something was going on here. This wasn't right. Whatever it was, it would be a lot easier to find out if he wasn't stuck on the end of a leash.

Whatever it was, he _would_ find it out, despite it.


	10. Flicker

I had intended to release this chapter with the previous as both are on the short side, but Ten wasn't quite ready and I didn't wanna hold off on Nine while I slept (Ten, Nine, yeah don't go there). I suppose I benefit from the extra reviews though, and you benefit from an extra chapter. =P

Kudos to Taranea for pointing it out... I completely _missed_ the opportunity the Doctor had to overcome Icha at the end of Chapter Eight when PCOS died and Icha didn't have the remote for several seconds. It's totally the kind of opportunity the Doctor would be good at taking. My only defense is that the Doctor was too puzzled at the time, and his writer isn't as smart as he is.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Cat soaps droned on in the background while the Doctor lay on his stomach with his big brown pillow propped under his chest. He was concentrating on his book, which he thought was quite a feat considering Peaky (yes, the _Alley Anonymous_ soap actually named one of its characters "Peaky"...) had a rather squeaky voice and occasionally squeaked more loudly than the sound system in the lounging room should allow. It made the Doctor wince every time, but Icha only giggled and muttered something about Peaky's character being amusing.

Thankfully, the Doctor prided himself on his ability to concentrate on multiple things at once due to his ultimately superiour Time Lord brain.

The Doctor had come home from the party three days ago in a foul mood. Itching to do something productive, he had stepped up his attempts at finding a way out. He had fussed over the scrap of coil interface trying to form it into a tool he could use to escape with. He had even sacrificed various kitchen utensils and innards from the appliances he could break into in an attempt to create what he needed.

At one point, he had wired the sabotaged conduit from under the stairs across the foyer to his latest invention and aimed it at the front door lock. Not only was the feed he had been using to power his flux flame now literally on the blink because of his attempt, but the door now sported an unexplained scorch mark and biscuits were always coming out of the oven burnt on the inside and doughy on the outside.

Even inverting the structural field of the endo-glass that made up every window had failed to so much as produce a crack, and it wouldn't without a stronger resistor. One of the large panels between two bookcases in the library now filtered sunlight into a sort of rose colour, which the Doctor had to admit he rather liked.

He just didn't have the proper materials.

There had been no parties or great amount of "training" to do to fill his time. By his estimation, he had so far been through half the library. With the power out to his cupboard, he could no longer read there by night. He had managed to rip into a table lamp's power cord in the library, however, and override the curfew setting, so he now had a proper chair and desk to read by.

The day after the party, Icha and the Doctor had returned to the PCOS room. To his surprise, the remote's sheath on the wall next to the door had been replaced, and the system appeared to be working perfectly. The PCOS system apparently wasn't originally designed for smart pets. The box-like sheath it now had appeared to be tamper-proof. The only time someone could have come in to repair it would have been while they were out at the party, which the Doctor thought was suspiciously convenient. The only time he could have ever seen anyone else in the house besides him or Icha, they happened to have been out.

He had caught Icha studying his reaction with calculating eyes, and the Doctor wondered if she really had suspected him after all. Icha knew he was clever. The question was, why did she put up with him? Perhaps she was only putting on a front to hide her wariness, or did she enjoy the challenge of attempting to tame a pet who was smarter than her?

While he attempted to clean up after his projects in order to minimise Icha's attention to them, he was no longer concerned about repercussions of Icha finding out he had been vandalising her property.

Icha dragged a repeating pattern down his bare back as she watched her cat soap. A couple of days ago, she had insisted he keep his shirt off while on the sofa because it made petting him easier. The Doctor wanted to argue that he could just stay off the sofa altogether and wander the house, but he didn't think she would like that very much. To be fair, Icha had allowed him to keep the trousers he had worn to the parties. He had originally thought he would only be allowed to wear them at parties, but so far she hadn't asked him to take them off, and he had no intention of doing so.

Black pants, no shirt on the sofa. He could handle that.

His current book of choice was _Geban's Tale_, one of the first of the possibly forbidden books he had read by flux flame in his cupboard. Since he had already read it, he thought he would risk finding out if Icha disliked the idea of him having it now. She noted the title when he first sat down with it, but either she didn't know what it was about or she didn't mind his knowing its content. If anything, the Doctor was disappointed. It made whatever was in _Paurin, a History_ that much more important to him.

Something flickered in his peripheral vision, and the Doctor looked up from his book to the screen. The superimposed image faded almost immediately, and Icha's next stroke down his spine caused him to shiver. It had appeared as a sort of negative, or an inverted colour image. A sort of bluish glowing energy had arced across the surface from where the Doctor knew the emitters to be and had formed a sort of... face. Eyes, specifically. Large, bulbous eyes, staring back at him from the screen.

The Doctor stared at the screen, but the image didn't return. He turned his eyes away, studying the screen in his peripheral vision, but the flicker didn't repeat itself.

What the hell?

He looked to Icha. Her eyes were dull and hypnotised by the soap. Either she hadn't seen it, or she wasn't alarmed by it.

Pushing up on straightened arms, the Doctor turned back to the screen. "Didn't you see that?"

He didn't look back, but he knew Icha was staring at him. "Marwari, you know better," she warned.

"Did you see it, though?" The Doctor swung his legs around and made to get up, but his collar buzzed. He turned to glare at Icha, but zipped his lips. Walking the short distance to a couple of heavily padded chairs, he hopped up the cushions to reach the screen.

"Marwari, what are you doing?"

The Doctor touched the frame of the screen but felt nothing unusual. He looked it over from up close, but all he could see was a simple programme being displayed. It was too heavy a screen to pull completely off the wall, but he was able to gently tip it on its mounting to peer behind it.

"Marwari, don't you dare!" Icha buzzed him again.

Exasperated, the Doctor released the screen and looked at Icha. He understood she didn't want him knackering her big expensive viewer, but the woman was being ridiculous. Couldn't she see something was wrong?

After a few moments, Icha's ire softened. "Marwari, there's nothing there, can't you see? Are you feeling well?"

He sat himself on the chair back and glanced at the screen again. _Now_ there was nothing there, sure. Maybe there hadn't been anything at all. Maybe he was losing it.

Icha beckoned him. "Come on."

Jumping down, the Doctor made his way back to the sofa, idly wondering if Icha would dare shock him while perched up high where he could fall and hurt himself. He settled himself next to Icha, giving the screen one last look before burying his head in his pillow. Captivity had taken its toll. He was growing overall lethargic with boredom. It felt like something was slowly sucking the life force out of him.

The Doctor had tried to escape. His resolve to discover what was happening at the Zel Power plant was wavering. Maybe he should rebel against Icha and refuse to cooperate. He would most likely get himself shocked silly for it. Was the pain worth the small chance of saving the people who enslaved him?

To hell with this planet. Why did he care what they were doing to themselves? Sure, if they blew themselves up he would go with them, but could he really do anything about it? For all he knew, Rose wasn't even on this planet. For all he knew, she never even left Gestaapa Prime and was shipped off elsewhere. If that were true, he would be hard pressed to ever see her again.

What did he really have to live for, anyway?

Icha seemed to sense his depression and moved her fingers through his hair. "There, there, Marwari..." Icha purred. "Everything will work itself out. You'll see."

The Doctor sighed into his pillow and closed his eyes. He couldn't escape physically, and mentally wasn't working, either. He attempted to pretend it was Rose petting him instead of Icha. Rose liked his hair, didn't she? The cat soap was ruining the impression, and he was sure without the sound of Rose's voice or the hum of the TARDIS, it would be impossible to ever again remember what she felt like.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

That night, the Doctor lay in his cupboard in the darkness, hugging his pillow. He was going to get up after Icha fell asleep and go to the library like he did the last couple of nights, but he just didn't really have it in him. What were the chances he would find anything useful in the books he had left, anyway?

Attempts at a quick escape had failed, and hope of it happening any time soon was withering away. It felt as if he were no closer to finding a way out walking down the street with a ring around his neck than if he were locked in a cell buried six feet underground and forgotten.

The Doctor squeezed his pillow tightly and imagined Rose was here with him, now. He had been separated from Rose in the past, but those instances rarely involved his enduring days of doing nothing. He usually had something pressing to force his mind to task and away from worrying.

Rose was probably out there scared and alone.

He suddenly found it hard to breathe, as if his lungs were malfunctioning, and the Doctor's respiratory bypass system refused to kick in. His vision blurred, and he turned his face into his pillow.

There had been something special about Rose from the day he had invited her into the TARDIS. As they adventured together, their bond had grown into a deep friendship. She had come to mean so much to him. It was more than her ability to empathise with aliens she had just met or accept the future death of her own planet in mere hours. It was more than her endurance in learning to accept the Laws of Time and the reasons she had to let her father die in her universe and to let him go in the parallel.

It was more than the way she stopped him from murdering the last Dalek thought to exist or the way she gave him space when he mourned missed opportunities with Reinette Poisson. Rose had told those she left behind it was the alien worlds and the new ideas, the saving lives and the finding a better one for herself.

He loved her because even without it all, she loved _him_.

Well, Rose had never told him in so many words, but the Doctor knew she at least loved _being with_ him, and she had proven she would do anything to save his life, even risk hers. She had even looked into the Time Vortex for him, although most likely she hadn't realised it would kill her to do so.

In return, he had taken the Vortex out of her and it had cost him a regeneration. He would use another for her, if it came to that, except that it would no doubt upset her like the first regeneration she had witnessed.

It had been hard for her to accept the concept once, but he had been lucky. She had adjusted to the change quickly, and if anything she had become even more attached to him since. Whether it was because she had simply known him longer or she preferred his latest regeneration more, he didn't know.

The Doctor sighed deeply and stared up into the black space of his small sanctuary. Rose was everything to him. He had to free her from this world and take her back to her own time, back to her mother.

_Rose _wouldn't give up on _him_. He had promised her even though she couldn't hear him that he was coming for her, and that's what he was going to do, somehow.


	11. Rose

Wait a second... I don't HAVE to give them back when I'm done. Russel T. Davies is done with them... o.O Muwahaha... muwahaha HAHAHA...

I'm so elated to finally be sharing this with all of you. Thank you all for your support and patience. ^_^ So put on your favorite reunion Doctor Who track and have at it. (I personally feel "Doomsday" fits Chapter 10 well...)

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

"Marwari, go shave before someone thinks you're getting lordly ideas."

The Doctor looked up from the pink eggs he was idly shoving around his plate on the sofa. Wouldn't they have to actually meet someone else for that someone to care?

Icha looked back to her programme. "When I was young, I remember thinking it cruel to make male pets shave their faces, but when my mother told me some actually _liked_ being shaven..." She trailed off, then looked back at him. "To not be clean shaven is to make a statement that you think you're of equal status as one of the catkind, and I can't have that, can I?" Icha pointed to his plate. "We're going out. Pick up the dishes and go wash up."

Fine. Dragging himself upright, the Doctor pulled his shirt on over his head, took the plates and returned them to the kitchen. He doubled back through the lounging room and to the bathing chamber, located the razor, and did as he was told.

He had let himself go the past few days. Whenever he had thought to do it, he found he just didn't have a good enough reason to spend the energy doing it.

So they were going for a walk. He supposed that was good, sure. It would be nice to get out of the house. He used to be enthusiastic about it, but now it just seemed like one more thing he had to endure.

The Doctor left the bathing chamber, rubbing a hand over his now smooth face. He met Icha in the foyer, who was dressed for public with her handbag and gloves.

"Ah, much better. You wouldn't think so, but I like you better this way. Come on." Icha led them out.

The weather was fair and sunny, as it seemed to be most days in this part of Paurin. The Doctor told himself it didn't really matter what the weather was like, that it didn't affect whether he was free or enslaved. He breathed deeply of the fresh air anyway, thinking he really should lighten up. It didn't do him any good to be miserable if he could be content just to be alive, fed, sheltered, and clothed.

Today, they walked down the hill into town. The Doctor expected they would cross the street per usual, maybe pop over to the cafe for sweetberries, but they didn't. Icha walked down the right side of the sidewalk, the same walk the Doctor had taken his first time here towards Icha's house.

They would pass right by the pet shoppe.

Now fully alert, the Doctor looked on as they drew closer and closer. Was Icha testing him, to see if he would disobey her and try to enter?

Or dare he hope, was the pet shoppe their destination?

The Doctor pushed the idea away. He didn't think he could take the disappointment if it wasn't.

Then again... whether they passed it or not, he would _definitely_ be able to get a good look inside.

They approached the shoppe, the Doctor's hearts hammering in anticipation.

"I'm thinking a sort of crimson would look good on you..." Icha mumbled as she slowed. To the Doctor's great joy, Icha turned inside the shoppe, and he hurried after her and looked to the cages.

A girl hugged her legs inside Eli's cage, but it wasn't Eli.

"Rose," he breathed, the word a reverent whisper. It didn't even occur to him that he wasn't supposed to speak until after the fact, but it was more of a fleeting observance than a worry. He thought he noticed Icha turn her head to him out of the corner of his eye, but he found he didn't much care.

Something deep inside the Doctor switched on--something he hadn't even noticed had faded.

Despite being overwhelmed at the sight of her, he managed to register a lesser shock at seeing Rose wearing much less than he was used to. He was familiar with the black band across her chest like Eli had worn, and although still modest, it seemed less effective on Rose's fuller bust. She wore the same type of shorts Icha had found him in. There had been very few instances he'd seen Rose with less than her preferred style of makeup, and while he could detect only faded traces, the absence of its usual vibrance only served to pull at the Doctor's empathy.

The young woman had been watching the doorway as they entered. When Rose locked eyes with him, hers had gone wide in recognition, relief and, the Doctor was proud to see, readiness to act.

After the shock had set in, he noted, she took a moment to give him a once-over herself.

The Doctor abandoned Icha's side and rushed forward, only to be caught at the end of his leash. Without a thought, he unclipped it from his collar and hurried to crouch at the bars of the cell, Rose simultaneously jumping up to the bars and crouching down to meet him. Rose's face was a picture of relief he'd often seen before. In one way or another they would get separated saving a planet or otherwise running for their lives, always to reunite with one another. She was fully expecting him to get her out, and that everything would be fine.

He was not in a position to rescue her this time, however. He didn't have the freedom to take Rose by the hand and run, facing their escape together. He was acutely aware that what he wanted would most likely not be what those in power wanted.

The Doctor put a hand to Rose's face. "You all right?"

"Yeah." Rose exhaled in relief and beamed, the brightness of her smile prompting him to return one of his own. "You?"

The Doctor's reply was stifled by the warning buzz about his neck, and he clenched his jaw shut. Rose's expression filled with sudden worry, and before she could ask what was wrong, he moved two fingers to her unusually pale lips. Seeing Rose again had transported him back to when they had last seen each other, as if the past two weeks had been but a dream. He glanced down at the collar around her neck. He had forgotten himself in the excitement of the moment.

He looked to Icha. Her expression wasn't one of anger or gloating. Icha didn't want to hurt him, but she felt she had no other choice. He saw anxiety, fear.

Rose was a threat to her and what Icha had with the Doctor.

"Come along, Marwari," the command in Icha's voice clear.

The Doctor felt panic begin to rise. He didn't want to be shocked, but he couldn't leave Rose. No, he _wouldn't_ leave Rose. At that solid fact, the Doctor's panic hardened into resolve. There was nothing else for it.

Twining an arm through the bars, the Doctor crouched outside the cell facing Icha, ready for what he knew would come.

The blinding pain overcame him, just as viciously as he remembered. It ended as abruptly as it had started, and the Doctor heard the tail end of his own cry of agony. The flesh of his neck burned horribly, his overloaded nervous system searing in alarm with an intense heat, or perhaps cold, he couldn't tell which. Rose had reached through the bars and was gripping him about the shoulders and chest whimpering, her voice and touch dulled from the assault to his senses.

"Stop it!" she cried.

"Rose, be quiet!" he hissed in warning. "Let go!"

Rose hesitated but complied, probably in reaction to the tenuous state of his voice.

"Come here!" Icha thundered.

While Icha could be intimidating when she _didn't _raise her voice, the fact that he'd never heard her do so until now was significant to note. Icha had lost her cool.

Lost her cool, wielding a shocker remote.

"I know what will get him," a voice grumbled from the desk.

The Doctor turned to look and saw Vicks, the man that had sold him two weeks ago to Icha. It didn't register what he was doing until the Doctor was suddenly deafened by Rose's shriek, her sharp cry from just behind him cutting through his dulled senses.

"_NO_!" the Doctor shouted, his voice breaking. A primal rage welled within him. The Doctor shot to his feet and glared at Vicks murderously. Rose quieted.

If Vicks shocked her again, he couldn't be responsible for the consequences to the cat man's health, the Doctor's collar be damned.

"That'll do," Icha said irritably.

Vicks was staring at Rose. When he finally released his grip on Rose's remote, the Doctor looked to Icha.

The cat woman looked stricken, staring at the Doctor for a long time as he pleaded back to her with his eyes. He was desperate to show Icha how important Rose was to him--short of showing too much affection, however. He remembered Icha not being keen on the idea of slaves being _too_ close.

Icha hadn't expected her pet to resist past being shocked, to react aggressively to the shoppe owner. Her voice changed to match her appearance, that of one who had lost something or had given up.

"How much for her?"

The Doctor mouthed his surprise, his expression hopeful.

"Err..." Vicks' sounded just as surprised as the Doctor was before switching to an all-business tone. "Well, what you paid for this one would do just fine, surely!"

"I paid eight thousand for Marwari. For her, I'll give you three."

The Doctor looked to Vicks, who appeared indecisive. Vicks was looking at him, as if assessing the importance Icha placed on pleasing him and weighing it against Icha's obvious lack of interest in Rose. She didn't want to pay nearly as much for her, and the Doctor was very worried they wouldn't agree on a price.

"Well," the cat man began hesitantly, "I don't usually take less than four thousand for a specimen such as she." Vicks got up from his stool and crossed his arms, moving closer to Rose and studying her, as if for the first time. "She's wild like him, yes, but some folks go for that in females. Very good condition." He suddenly lifted a finger, eyes bright. "Oh, and she speaks Rudeese as well! It's my theory they came from the same place."

_No shit, Sherlock_, the Doctor censured inwardly.

Icha squinted suspiciously at Rose, then at the Doctor. Her gaze lingered on him. "You've had very good behaviour, Marwari, for being found wild. Do you think you deserve her?"

He had so much to say and wanted to spring on the opportunity at being asked a question, but this was too fragile a situation. He was about to nod at Icha, but looked to Rose instead. Rose looked back at him in anticipation. What response was Icha expecting, or did his answer even matter?

Did he deserve her?

The Doctor returned his eyes to Icha's scrutiny and slowly shook his head.

Icha judged him for a few moments. What would he do if she said no?

"Four thousand."

Vicks blinked at Icha. The Doctor gasped in a breath and held it as he waited for his decision.

Vicks pressed his feline lips together. "Err... well, you drive a hard bargain, Miss Nubien, but you're a good customer. Four thousand it is."

The Doctor barely suppressed a shout of victory and beamed down at Rose, still crouched against the cell bars. She grinned back up at him.

"If you become rebellious, she's out! Do you hear me?" Icha scolded.

The Doctor sobered and nodded at Icha obediently.

Vicks approached Rose's cell, and even though the Doctor didn't want to put distance between himself and Rose, he backed readily away so Vicks could get her out. Rose stood, smiling at the Doctor. The door opened with a _clank_ and it was mere moments before Rose was rushing into the Doctor's arms. He hugged her to him fiercely, surprised at first by the unusual amount of contact with her skin.

How could he have forgotten for a single moment how she felt?

They reveled in their reunion, the Doctor not quite believing their luck. He was expecting to feel a buzzing at his neck, but there was none. This was the part where they should be swapping stories, exchanging "I'm so glad you're okay" and "Where have you been", but he wouldn't push it. There would be plenty of time for talk later, so the Doctor contented himself with the peace of just being in the embrace of Rose's body and scent as the voices of Icha and Vicks finished business behind him.

They completed the transaction entirely too swiftly. "Come along," Icha prompted, her strides marching for the street.

The Doctor didn't want to let go, but the sooner they reached Icha's mansion, the sooner they'd secure Rose's place away from the pet shoppe and hopefully find time to talk alone. He pulled away and looked into Rose's eyes and saw that tears had welled up. She gazed back at him and touched his face gratefully. The Doctor glanced to the door and gave her a questioning expression, as if to ask if she was okay and ready to move. Rose nodded back excitedly and sniffled.

She was so beautiful. He'd found his Rose, and now he could protect her again. Trailing his hands down Rose's bare arms and leaving one in her eager grip, the Doctor turned and followed Icha, tugging Rose along behind him into the daylight.


	12. Vemenor

Everything around them was much brighter and more cheerful than the Doctor had remembered. That's what Rose did to him, just walking along a simple street and being in her presence. Passing looks from cat people were returned with a welcoming smile, inviting people to ask about his Rose or anything at all. She made everything better.

Behind it all, though, underneath the light fluffy surface, he knew that while they still wore collars, there would be little they could do to stay together if these people wanted them apart badly enough.

As they walked, the Doctor kept making eye contact with Rose and squeezing her hand, craving communication. She seemed to be just as joyous as he was, and it didn't seem to even matter that they were still enslaved. At one point, Rose pinched at his shirt, obviously wondering how he'd gotten better clothing. The Doctor pointed to Icha and patted his shoulder while wielding his best smug expression, reminding Rose that Icha had said he'd had good behaviour. Rose arched an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms in mock jealousy.

While waiting at the crossing, the Doctor found it within himself to remember and dropped to a crouch. Rose looked down at him, confused, and he pulled her down with him by the hand to wait behind Icha. Rose's eyebrows went up, and he replied with a shrug and pointed up at their slaver.

When they had ascended the hill and turned onto the mansion's drive, and the Doctor looked sidelong at Rose to catch her reaction. She looked over the grounds with wonder, and the Doctor felt a misplaced sense of pride. The TARDIS was infinitely more magnificent, but at the moment, this was the best he could offer her, even though it wasn't even really his. As they strode under the trellised archway with the spade-shaped leaves, the Doctor remembered how he had felt the first time he had been here, alone with Icha. He had been enveloped in such sadness and so much worry for Rose, aching to share the beauty of this place with her. Now he _could_ share it with her. He had thought it so important at the time, but the event paled in comparison with just knowing she was alive and with him again.

Icha stepped up to the door as it read her identity, and the doors swung open. Knowing his place, the Doctor held the door and ushered Rose inside, closing it behind her.

In the Doctor's excitement, he hadn't even thought to check on Icha's control of Rose's collar. While Icha fussed with her handbag at the little table by the stairs, he saw she now held a remote with two buttons. She must have gotten it switched in the shoppe.

The Doctor chastised himself for dropping his guard. What if during the transfer of remotes he had missed an opportunity to seize control?

"Now, Marwari," Icha said, warning clear in her voice, "you've asked a lot of me, and I expect you're smart enough to know it." The Doctor stood at attention beside Rose, preparing for a lecture. Icha finished with her purse and held it between her hands, studying him and Rose severely. "I know how pets can be, but I know you understand me." She focused on the Doctor. "You keep her without child, or face the consequences. I don't wish to spay her, and I don't think you want that, either. Don't give me cause."

The Doctor felt his cheeks redden but nodded obediently, biting back an "I wouldn't dream of it".

Icha seemed satisfied. "Good boy. Now go get her washed up. I don't want the smell of that shoppe on my cushions." She waved them off.

They were dismissed. The Doctor fought a losing battle with a grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth. Eager to be alone so they could talk, he did his best to not appear too eager as he marched off, leading the way through the archway into the lounging room. Rose was enthralled by the room with its many pillows and high dome ceiling. The Doctor continued on through the right hall, Rose keeping pace with him despite her wonder.

It was all the Doctor could do to keep his mouth shut until they reached the bath. Once inside, he turned to Rose and gave her a winning smile of pure excitement to match her own.

"Rose!" The Doctor engulfed her in a hug, squeezing her to him. "You all right?"

"Yeah. Oh Doctor, I was so afraid!" Rose seemed to be attempting to get even closer, as if he weren't already crushing the breath out of her.

"Me, too," he admitted after a moment. He buried his nose in her hair and pulled in a deep breath, then murmured, "My Rose."

There was an extended silence as the pair just held each other, content to be together. Then the Doctor pulled away, just enough to not let go, and looked intently into her eyes. "What happened to you? Why did it take you so long to reach the shoppe?"

Rose pursed her generous lips as she thought back. "I woke up in this lorry, yeah? I think one of the men that captured us had plans of his own for me. His sister's a breeder or something. He and some other bloke were arguing about it."

The Doctor nodded, following her story. "Yeah, but that was days ago. Two _weeks_ past!"

Now Rose nodded. "I was travelin' for maybe two days. I guess he couldn't keep me for whatever reason. We arrived at the shoppe, and I've been there since."

The Doctor winced in heavy disappointment. "Ooh, you must've just missed me. I was there but a day before Icha picked me out."

Rose's lips curled in mischief, her eyes bright and laughing. "'Picked you out'? Listen to you, going native. Anyway, I don't blame her. Who wouldn't want you?" The Doctor grinned widely despite himself. He'd missed her teasing. Rose sighed. "I'm good now, though, aren't I? I've got you."

Pressing his lips tight, the Doctor showed his agreement in another squeeze, this time circling her lower and noting how her exposed belly gave way against him in a rather pleasing way. Impulse seized him and he lifted Rose clear of the pebbled floor. Rose squealed in delight.

"Shh, shh, shh!" the Doctor scolded as he set her back down, but he failed to suppress a giggle. He thought of Rose being all alone in the pet shoppe, then suddenly he pushed her to arms length again. "Hold on, did you see Eli?"

Rose's expression fell, but she nodded. "I asked her about you. She said you wouldn't... accept her advances."

"Yeah." His gaze fell away in thought. "She's just a girl. Poor thing probably doesn't even know what freedom is."

Something akin to regret tainted her features, but it was so brief the Doctor couldn't be sure. Rose didn't give him a chance to ask about it.

"I talked to her about freedom, though," Rose said.

The Doctor peered at her curiously. "Oh?"

"I asked her if she'd like to make her own choices in life, that she doesn't have to listen to the cats anymore. She said it's impossible, 'cause she'd get zapped if she disobeyed. I told her I'm used to impossible, an' that I'd help her get out if she wanted to."

The Doctor beamed helplessly. "Brilliant. You're brilliant, Rose. Good girl!"

Rose only smiled a little at the compliment. "There was someone else there, too."

"Another slave?"

She nodded. "Came in just yesterday. Had spikey skin," Rose wiggled her fingers at her temple, "and funny little red ridges around his eyes and on his cheekbones."

The slave's description made the Doctor suddenly uneasy. _Very_ uneasy.

He racked his brain for the reference, and with the name of the species came memory of its fearsome characteristics.

"Vemenor," he breathed, his voice coming out distressed. Panic overwhelmed the Doctor, and he gripped Rose's arms fiercely. "Rose! Did he hurt you?"

"No," Rose assured him immediately, confused. "Why would you think he did? What is he, Doctor?"

"Vemenor," the Doctor spat out, this time with much more distaste. "Extremely aggressive, strong. A dying species, no longer able to reproduce within their own race. I can see them being favored for manual labor, as long as they're kept in line."

"How d'ya mean, 'within their own race'?"

"Like I said, their species is dying off. At this point in the Vemenor timeline, in its weak throes of death, their aggression stems from desperation. They lash out, their genetics screaming at them to survive as a whole. They're mostly males now, having managed to adapt to females of other species, retaining most of their own base pairs from generation to generation. Any female progeny are discarded as worthless, as they haven't been capable of bearing children of their own for centuries. In the years to come, they'll succeed less and less as their genome thins out. Eventually, without enough of their original DNA, reproduction even with other species will stop entirely."

"That's horrible." Rose swallowed, pained. She paused. "You'd think with so much interaction with other races, their children growing up under mothers from different cultures, they wouldn't be so hard to get along with. They would learn to trust other species to help them."

The Doctor winced inwardly. He was hoping he hadn't needed to go into detail. "Yes, well... problem is, the mothers don't exactly survive."

Rose looked shocked. "What, the kid growing up? Their dads beat their mums or something?"

He sighed. "Childbirth."

Rose's brows drew together. "None of them live?"

He shook his head, feeling pity for a species he barely knew. "Their spiked skin. None but Vemenor females are able to withstand bearing them."

Rose's mouth dropped open. "They're _born_ that way?" The Doctor didn't bother to nod. "Can't they operate, like do C-sections?"

"Of course, yes," the Doctor said in annoyance. He didn't want to talk about it anymore. "If they know what's coming and the males aren't around, they can get help before it's too late. The infants are not often accepted by their mothers. Sure, there are a few raised well, but the vast majority are not."

Rose sighed, apparently picking up on his mood and calmed her tone. "Can't technology do something for them? Without hurting other races?"

"Oh, they've tried here and there, but their genes are just too weak to work with." The Doctor took a deep breath, calming himself. Rose cared and was just curious. "They've regressed to the point where they no longer hold the level of technology themselves. For the most part, they don't trust others." He could see Rose's mind was racing, and he sighed. "There's nothing to be done, Rose. It's their time."

The Doctor just watched her for a minute as she thought. He was about to ask what was on her mind when she spoke quietly.

"What if it had happened to me?"

It took a moment for the Doctor to follow where Rose was coming from. So _that_ was why she was on about it. Hadn't she said the Vemenor hadn't hurt her? He hated to even think of it and swallowed at a lump in his throat as he regarded her seriously. "But it didn't."

"But what if it had?" she insisted.

He frowned at her, his brow furrowing. "It didn't, that's what matters. If we run into another Vemenor, I'll protect you."

"But you _weren't_ there, Doctor." Rose grew more adamant. "What if he _had_ attacked me?"

The Doctor's blood chilled. Her obsession with the past was suspicious. Perhaps she was just emotional from their separation and was overreacting. He would try to calm her. "_If_ it had happened? And I _wasn't_ there?" He paused. "I'd do whatever is necessary, now, to save your life. I'd never let it grow to hurt you."

Rose stared into his eyes. "You mean like... with chemicals?"

The Doctor drew in a steadying breath. She was really starting to scare him. She had said she hadn't been attacked. Had she lied so as not to worry him? "If it came to that."

"What would you use? Do you have access to it, here?" she pressed.

"Rose-" he hissed, stopping himself. She was forcing him to dwell on a very unpleasant subject, to actually visualise having to react to an attack on her, and now the Doctor was growing angry.

What _would_ he use? Rose had said the Vemenor was in the shoppe only yesterday. Did he have the supplies here to cook up something strong enough that would leave Rose unhurt? Steroids were out of the question, but if it had just been _yesterday_...

"We're _slaves_, Doctor. We can't just pop out to the shoppes and get what you need-"

"You have me," he replied simply, biting back his annoyance. "Here with you, now. That's all you need."

"Doctor, I don't see how-"

"You don't..." he steadied his voice through gritted teeth, "You don't _need_ to see how, Rose. Just know that you'd be taken care of."

Rose's eyes flashed. She stepped closer, rising to the challenge. "Common response, coming from just another bloke. It wouldn't be happening to you, would it? You say you'll fix it, or that you'll be there through it, but when it comes to it-"

The Doctor stared at her, feeling hurt. Where was _this_ coming from? "Is that how it is, then? I'm just another bloke to you?" he snarled, suddenly vicious. He moved even closer, just inches from her face. "How can you say it wouldn't be happening to me? You expect me to just stand by and let it kill you? I wouldn't let some stupid Vemenor's stink of existence affect you, this backward planet and its outrageous slave system be damned. I'd kill it with my own blood if I had to! _All right?_"

"_All right!_" Rose railed back. She paused, then softened. "Wait, wha'?"

Rose had gotten the best of him. The Doctor closed his eyes. He hadn't meant to lose it like he had, hadn't meant to go into detail, and Rose had worked it out of him. "I'd kill it," the Doctor seethed, his affection for Rose starting to seep through his anger's wake and into his eyes. "His seed with mine."

Rose was shocked silent. Her face then coloured as the implications seemed to catch up with her.

He tore his eyes away from her. "Anyway..."

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Right."

After a moment, Rose recovered and squinted doubtfully at him.

When she didn't relent, the Doctor took a step back, trying to calm himself with another deep breath and bit out, "Vemenor may be adaptive, but their genetics are a far cry from mine." He watched for a reaction, but she only shifted her gaze to stare off somewhere behind him. "Satisfied?" he added critically.

He was expecting her to nod, but she didn't.

"Rose, why?" You need to tell me if something happened." His anger was replaced with sincere concern, and he took her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him with her deep, honey eyes. "Tell me. Now, before it's too late. You don't need to lie to me, Rose, after all we've been through. I promise I'll do what I can-"

"It's not me," Rose blurted out, too loudly. She sniffled and quieted, almost to a whisper. "It's Eli."

The Doctor stared into her eyes, stunned, as it sank in. He had been so concerned for Rose, he hadn't even considered, blind to other possibilities.

"She-" Rose started, struggling with the terror of her memories as her expression became more pained, having come out with it. Her eyes blinked more frequently as tears started to form. "She must've known about Vemenor aggression. I think she provoked him on purpose, wanting to be pregnant that badly." Rose dropped her gaze, trying to collect herself. "She must not have known of the consequences."

The Doctor shut his eyes and drew Rose into a comforting hug. He waited until her breathing evened out and continued to just hold her. He didn't know what to say.

Eli was just a girl-an innocent slave, and he couldn't do anything to help her.

"They took her somewhere," Rose muffled into his shoulder. "Some place for breeders, I dunno."

"Come on," the Doctor loosened his arms from around her and prodded softly, encouraging Rose further into the bathing room with a hand to her back. "Let's get you cleaned up and out there before Icha thinks we're doing more than just washing up."


	13. Acclimation

"You can't imagine how bored out of my head I was in that place. You'd think that cat bloke could toss in a Gameboy or somethin', but no-"

The Doctor lifted a finger as they exited the bath, peering down the hall towards the lounging room. "We've taken long enough. More later," he whispered.

He had stayed in the huge bath facing the doorway while Rose had showered, not wanting to leave her alone. While she was busy, he had picked through the basket of slave attire in the corner and tried to find something that would fit her. Unsure, he gave up and pointed her towards it and waited at the doorway.

Now, the Doctor led Rose, freshly-clothed in a new black band and shorts, back to the lounging room and prepared for a silent few hours. Play it cool, he told himself. Not too excited, but appreciative. Show you can behave agreeably just as easily with Rose here, if not better.

Icha was watching a programme as usual. She looked up as they entered, offered a small smile, and patted the Doctor's empty spot on the sofa.

The Doctor and Rose circled around in front of the sofa, and the Doctor sat down. He wasn't sure if Icha had meant for Rose to sit, too, and there wasn't really room for both to lie down on this side of Icha-not in a way Icha would like, anyway. He would be content to just hold her close for a while, but it wasn't really an option in his mind. Satisfied that perhaps in the future Icha would be okay with it and he could look forward to the opportunity, he motioned to Rose to sit down on the floor for now right next to the sofa where at least they could be near each other. He half-expected Rose to object, but she settled down immediately.

There _was_ room on the other side of Icha. Since Icha didn't seem too fond of Rose, he thought maybe it would be better to stay between her and Rose for now. Besides, he didn't want Icha between them, and he thought Rose would probably feel the same way.

The remote to their collars was also in Icha's right hand, the side opposite the Doctor near the spot where Rose would have to occupy, and Icha no doubt didn't trust either of them enough for that.

The Doctor picked up his big brown pillow and passed it down to Rose. She accepted it gratefully and hugged it. He grinned at her as she then pressed her nose into the fuzzy fabric and inhaled deeply.

Swiveling, he lay on his stomach and propped his head up with his elbows, looking idly at the screen and thinking how different it was to be here with Rose. He wondered what they could do until lunch without disturbing Icha.

The cat woman teased his shoulder with a clawing motion. "Marwari..." she sing-songed.

Blimey, did she have to do this now? The Doctor rolled his eyes and looked over the sofa. In front of Rose?

Knowing he had little choice and was being ridiculously timid, he sat upright and peeled his shirt off inside-out and over his head. He lay back down, avoiding Rose's eyes for as long as he could. When Icha began to pet him, the Doctor couldn't resist any longer and looked down at Rose.

It was a good thing Icha couldn't see Rose's face over the edge. Rose tried to keep a straight face, but apparently his condition was amusing to her, and she was obviously having trouble keeping quiet. Yes, being pet by a cat, very funny. The Doctor looked away, mortified, and rest his chin on his crossed arms and pretended to watch the programme.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

"Now then," Icha said brightly after her programme ended. She sat up from her pillows and crossed her legs, turning towards the two of them.

The Doctor, happy Icha was done petting him and eager to do something else, sat up and mimicked Icha's posture while pulling his shirt back on. Rose got up on her knees and rested her elbows on the sofa, looking at Icha.

Icha studied Rose for a minute. Her expression was kind, but the Doctor could see the wariness in her eyes. "I must think on what to call you. Come," Icha invited, patting the sofa near the Doctor. "Sit up here. Let me have a look at you."

Rose readily climbed onto the sofa, the look on her face indicating she was just as wary of Icha as Icha was of her.

The Doctor wanted to just tell Icha her name, though he thought that Icha must have heard him use her name in the shoppe. Had he said her name loudly enough?

Icha could just ask him, and he would gladly tell her. Maybe he should just say it. No, knowing Icha, she would decide not to use it simply because he had spoken and wasn't allowed to. She had to know that since they hadn't grown up in captivity, they would already have names. Perhaps she didn't use people's real names on purpose as a form of control, and that's why she never had asked for the Doctor's name.

Icha's eyes moved slowly over Rose, and Rose studied her back. The cat woman raised a hand and brushed it through the golden blonde hair that framed Rose's face. "Your colours... I shall call you... Lily."

As in the flower? _So close!_ The Doctor, excited that Icha had almost said Rose's name, reached for her hand to get her attention, to show Icha she had almost guessed it.

Bad move.

Rose cried out in pain and surprise, just for an instant. The Doctor jumped up almost to his knees, ready to protect Rose. He _knew_ he hadn't pressed anything when he had gripped Icha's hand. No, he was _sure_ it had been her left hand, not her right.

Icha had shocked her! The Doctor glared at the cat dangerously.

Icha was staring at Rose, her expression surprised and slightly horrified. She recovered her mask, but not as quickly as usual, and met his eyes. "Marwari," she scolded in her controlled tone. "Never do that again. I don't want to hurt either of you, you know that, but I will if you make any sudden moves, in my own defence."

The Doctor stared at Icha. Despite her queen slaver's mask, her expression very easily could pass for guilty. Had she just pressed the wrong button?

Icha waved them off the sofa. The Doctor and Rose backed off and stood, facing her. Icha managed a grim smile. "Go on," she said with forced cheer. "Marwari, take Lily to the kitchen. Show her how to cook if she doesn't know how." She waved again. "Go on, then."

Rose moved readily away, and the Doctor put a steadying hand to her back, leading her towards the left hallway. Icha watched after them arrogantly. The Doctor gave Icha one last look before rounding the corner and turning his attention to Rose.

Rose had been shocked before, but not by Icha. She had seen Icha shock the Doctor, but only because he was clearly disobeying her. Now, Rose looked frightened and angry. The Doctor wanted to comfort her with an embrace, but he wanted to put some distance between them and Icha so he could also soothe her with words.

The walk to the kitchen seemed to take longer than ever. Once upon the cold tiles and inside the humming utilitarian atmosphere, the lights flickered on. The Doctor turned Rose into his shoulder, and she went willingly.

"That woman is horrible!" Rose carped, hugging him tightly. "I didn't even do anything! You didn't really, either."

The Doctor stroked her back and touched the flesh beneath her collar gently. He wanted to pry the cursed thing off her neck. "She didn't mean to."

Rose pulled back a bit to meet his eyes. "What?"

The fight had left him, replaced by a sort of quiet frustration. He blinked slowly. "You heard her. She meant to shock me. She shocked you by mistake. Not used to having two buttons, I guess."

"So it's gonna happen again, then."

"Oh, I'd think not. It was my fault, really."

"Like hell it was." Rose pulled away from him, turning to look around.

The Doctor sighed, looking around himself. "Welcome to the kitchen," he said with a presenting arm.

Rose looked all around. "It's big," she observed with wonder. "Could fit a dozen cooks in here."

The Doctor nodded in response, moving towards the washer and pulling out a few plates. "Easily. Not everything works anymore though, thanks to me, so hopefully we don't get nearly that many."

"They come often, then? Cook up a big feast every night?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Just us."

Rose stared at him, her hand on the refrigerator door. "Seriously? You, me, and... Icha, was it?"

The Doctor nodded, fishing around in a drawer for teaspoons. "We're not just pets, we're slaves. I do all the cooking. Well, _we_ do, now. We're not allowed upstairs, so don't even try. At the end of this hall is the laundry and some locked utility cupboards. In the other direction, you remember the bath. At the end that way is the library. There's nothing in-between we can access."

"So why's this place so big for just her?"

The Doctor passed Rose, giving her a weighty look. "Good question."

Rose peeked into the refrigerator. "Well, I'd say she likes biscuits. How does she keep her figure?"

The Doctor shrugged and opened a cupboard, retrieving the sugar. "Can't say she eats much. Pull out a package of those, will you?" He frowned. "Can't say she _does_ much either." He looked over at Rose and found himself appreciating the way she doubled over behind the refrigerator door. "I'm afraid we'll be watching a _lot _of telly."

Rose straightened, a papered roll of dough in her hand. "Ugh. Well I can't really complain, can I? It's got to be better than being stuck in that shoppe without it." She walked towards him.

The Doctor waved a knife at her. "Your brain will turn to mush. Don't say I didn't warn you." He set the knife down on the counter noisily. "Here, biscuits. Have at it."

Removing the paper, Rose picked up the knife and started slicing. "Well we're together. Can't beat that, considering."

He offered her a small smile. "Yeah. I imagine these will be our best times, here in the kitchen, where we can occupy ourselves. Talk." Rose nodded in agreement, and they were silent for a moment while they prepared lunch. The Doctor imagined they would be alone together tonight as well, but since he wasn't sure what to expect, he wasn't ready to share the possibility with Rose.

"So why 'Lily'?"

The Doctor's mood turned up a little with a quirk at the corner of his mouth. "Don't you remember?" He teased, picking up the teapot and filling it under the tap. "Cat people think you look pink and yellow."

Rose affected puzzlement for a moment, then narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "If I recall, it was you who thought so."

He glanced at her, mildly trying to hide his amusement. "No, I think it was the cats."

"Roses can just as easily be pink or yellow. Why 'Lily'?" The Doctor shrugged and looked back to his teapot. There was a significant pause. "What's 'Marwari' mean?"

The Doctor set aside the full teapot, not really looking where he was putting it. "Ah, just... a name."

Rose nodded immediately. "Right. 'Cause Icha made an effort to pick out a fitting name for a pet she doesn't even like much. Why put meaning into a name for a pet she obviously fancies?"

"I dunno!" The Doctor blurted, suddenly self-conscious. He scratched at the back of his head, avoiding her eyes. "How should I know what she was thinking when she came up with it? It's not like I can just ask her."

"C'mon, Doctor. I know you. You can't fool me. Out with it."

He sighed. Nine centuries of lying. He liked to think he was pretty good at it. And yes, he had fooled Rose plenty of times, thank you very much. "It's... um. A sort of... horse, apparently," he mumbled.

"A sort of what? Didn't catch that."

He fixed his eyes on Rose's, determined not to show his discomfort. "A horse. Brown... horse. Sort of..." he trailed off under Rose's scrutiny, her brows rising. "...leggy." The stove was behind her. Feeling warm all over and quite sure his cheeks were betraying him, the Doctor picked up the teapot and held it out.

"Right," Rose drawled and beamed a cheeky grin at him. She took the teapot, half-turned, and looked him up and down over her shoulder.

Since there were now three of them, the Doctor made use of two platters. He and Rose made their way down the hallway towards the lounging room, he carrying the one of tea and Rose the one of biscuits. Rose had complained that the biscuits weren't done, but he assured her they were and it wasn't her fault because he had broken the oven. When she had asked why he had broken it, he told her he would show her later.

Icha was watching another programme, which wasn't a surprise. The Doctor and Rose set down their platters on the sofa, and Icha looked them over with approval and helped herself. The Doctor waited until she was finished taking what she wanted before seating himself next to Icha and serving Rose and himself.

Rose settled herself between the sofa and the Doctor's pillow and distracted herself with the screen while sipping at her tea. Having no interest in the programme, the Doctor was content to munch on biscuits and watch her.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Supper went similarly to lunch. The Doctor and Rose got to disappear into the kitchen for a while. It was good to be doing something with Rose, even if it was just fixing a meal. Because there were two of them, preparations went quickly, but they did their best to stall short of letting the food cool. Rose informed him that she was entitled to a rather large helping and that two weeks of pet shoppe food was the most dreadful experience of her life.

After eating their fill, they lazed around some more. The Doctor endured more petting from Icha and the sniggering from Rose that came with it. He supposed he was somewhat used to doing nothing by now, and he worried about Rose being bored more than himself. When he really thought about it, though, this had to be much better than passing time in the pet shoppe. At least they were comfortable, well fed, and most importantly, together.

The Doctor dropped an arm over the edge of the sofa. Rose smiled and entwined her fingers with his.

When the screen finally clicked off and Icha stretched and climbed off the sofa, the Doctor sat up in anticipation and pulled his shirt on. Sensing it was time to go, Rose also stretched and sat on the edge of the sofa next to him. They watched Icha, waiting.

"Time for bed, Marwari." Icha paused and smiled. "Lily." The Doctor took Rose's hand and squeezed it, rubbing his thumb along her skin. Rose squeezed back, waiting for the Doctor's lead. Instead of getting up, he stayed put. Two pairs of brown eyes gazed up at Icha, and blue ones gazed back. Icha smiled in what the Doctor took to be sympathy. "I'll be right back."

They watched Icha disappear into the foyer, and the Doctor waited until he heard her ascend the stairs before he whispered, "I don't know where she plans to put you."

"Where do you sleep?"

"Under the stairs." He nodded his head towards the foyer.

Rose paused. "Seriously?"

The Doctor nodded. "If you mean by sleep running about the place and taking things apart, then yeah."

Rose beamed mischievously, but it was short-lived. "Well, something tells me that's not where I'm sleepin'."

He sighed quietly. "Not likely. A bit cramped, anyway."

Icha returned and patted her thigh, her tone subdued. "Come on."

To the Doctor's surprise, Icha headed for the right hall. Anxious, he got up and followed, his pillow in one hand, Rose's hand in the other.

They passed the PCOS room but didn't make it to the bathing chamber before Icha turned to a door. The Doctor recognised it as one of the empty bedrooms he had snooped around on his first night.

Icha opened the door and motioned inside. "Lily."

What about him? Rose looked to him sadly and squeezed his hand, then let go and entered the room. The Doctor met Icha's eyes and tried to follow Rose, but Icha stopped him with a hand to his chest.

"No, Marwari. Wait out here."

Icha disappeared inside and closed the door. The Doctor's anxiety spiked. What was she doing in there, alone with Rose? He put his ear to the door and listened.

"Here you are, dear." The Doctor heard drawers moving. Hadn't they been empty? Yes, some had, but a few had been locked. There was a pause, then, "I won't hurt you, Lily. There now, look at me. That's right." Another pause. "As long as you behave, you should be quite comfortable. There's nothing to fear. You're safe here. You're lucky, you know. Being a pet isn't so bad. I don't expect much. Just keep Marwari company." Another pause, and Icha's voice was much closer. "Good night, Lily. I'll be in for you in the morning."

The Doctor backed away as the door opened, and Icha stepped out. She turned and locked the door with one of her metal keys, then looked to Marwari. "Come to bed." Icha started down the hall, but he didn't follow. She stopped and looked back at him. "It's only for the night, Marwari. You'll see her again in the morning."

He supposed there was no point in standing there. Icha wasn't going to open the door. He would just have to come back after Icha went upstairs. With one last look at the door, the Doctor followed Icha to the foyer.

Icha showed the Doctor into his cupboard. "I hope you sleep well, Marwari, now that Lily is safe."

The Doctor stared as Icha shut the door and moved up the stairs. So, she had figured it out. He supposed it didn't take someone very clever. Icha had bought Rose for him, and assumed he would now stop attempting to escape. While he admitted he was more concerned with getting through the bedroom door right now than a way out of the house, he wouldn't hesitate to jump at an opportunity if it presented itself. He was much less desperate to get out than he had been, but there were other reasons to escape, and he would eventually find a way.

The mansion entered night mode, and the Doctor crept silently from the cupboard with a small bundle and back down the hallway. He reached Rose's door and knocked quietly. "Rose."

There was a rustling, and then Rose answered from just the other side, "Doctor, it's locked."

"I know. Bear with me, I'm gonna try to get it open." The Doctor set down the bundle of parts he had halfway made into tools and sorted through them, picking one up and applying it to the lock. He poked and prodded and the lock clicked and clanked as he worked. "What's in the drawers?"

"Hm? Oh, some clothes."

The Doctor stopped. "Really?"

"Yeah. Why?"

He hesitated, poking at the lock. "I had to work for mine."

There was another pause from behind the door. "Jealous much?"

"Maybe."

"Wonder why I didn't have to do anything for mine."

"I would think it would be obvious."

A pause. "Why's that, then?"

The Doctor applied too much pressure, and the makeshift tool snapped. "Damn!"

"What?"

He just stopped himself from slamming his fist against the door in frustration. "Just a little setback, that's all. I need... what do I need..." He looked over the bits of scrap.

"Doctor."

He lifted his head. "Hm?"

"It's... been a long day. I'm just gonna turn in, if that's all right."

The Doctor frowned. "I'll get this open, Rose."

"It's okay, really. I'm gonna sleep anyway. And it's not gonna happen with you making all that noise, either. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Rose..."

"Doctor, I'm fine. I'm here, now." She paused. "You found me."

A moment passed before the Doctor sighed and nodded. He _had _found her. Rose wasn't going anywhere, and he would see her in the morning. Besides, she didn't need him keeping her awake.

"Okay." He picked up his tool parts and stood.

"Good night, Doctor."

The Doctor pressed the side of his face to the door and closed his eyes briefly. "Good night, Rose."


	14. Possession

Thank you AshleySciFigirl for commenting on the end of the last chapter's parallel to the scene in "Doomsday." I did indeed intend this. ^_~

For those of you that don't know, refer to my profile for updates while I produce this story.

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The Doctor couldn't help but feel disappointed, but he waited out the night alone as Rose requested. She had always kept up with his pace during their adventures and sometimes from one directly into another, but when they returned to the TARDIS and Rose would immediately fall asleep on the captain's chair, he would order Rose to her room for a proper sleep cycle. Sometimes, their day would be tiring enough that she would go off on her own, but he would always say good night.

He never had to worry about her while she slept safely aboard his own ship. He often felt compelled to enter her room and wake her because he was bored and wanted to go somewhere new with her, but he rarely gave in. Instead, he would tinker around under the console and wait for her, knowing Rose needed her rest for their next destination. He was a Time Lord--what was a few hours wait?

During those times, knowing he _could_ go to her if he wanted to was enough. The fact that he couldn't _now_ was almost unbearable.

The Doctor sighed and opened his cupboard door, peering out towards the lounging room awash with dawn's light. He hoped she wasn't ill.

Rose had been inactive for the past two weeks in a prison. Yesterday had to have been the most excitement she had endured in a while, even though they had been lazy for most of it. Emotionally, it had probably been an exhausting day, and she hadn't been up for more.

Still, they had finally gotten time alone, without time limit and run of the house, and the Doctor felt like she had given up on him.

Oh well, what was the rush anyway? He could look forward to plenty of time with her in this place, even if they had nothing really to do.

He had spent his time alone refining his lock picking instrument. Unlike the secure outer door locks of the mansion, the bedroom door used one of those metal keys of Icha's. The physical key was very simple to copy. It was the electronic component of it he wanted to bypass without frying it and giving Icha reason to move Rose to another room. He thought about getting up now to try it, waking Rose early, but it was too risky. Icha could come down at any time and catch them.

Finally, the Doctor heard Icha upstairs. He stretched and drew himself alert, eager to see Rose again.

"Good morning, Marwari," Icha greeted cheerily as she passed through the foyer. The Doctor took his cue and climbed out of his cupboard and followed her. Sure enough, Icha passed through the lounging room and down the hall to the guest bedroom Rose had been left in.

"Lily, are you awake, my dear?" Icha called through the door as she unlocked it. The Doctor stood behind her, bouncing on the balls of his feet until the door opened, and he then followed Icha inside. Rose was sitting on the bed, and when she saw him, she stood.

The Doctor's eyes immediately flicked over her new appearance. Rose wore a white jumper made with what looked like soft fleece. Its sleeves ended in diagonal ends at the elbows. Her pants appeared to be of the same material as his, but hers ended at the knees in the same diagonal style as the top. The outfit fit her perfectly, doing much to accentuate her natural curves.

While a secret part of him wished he had taken more advantage of her pet shoppe attire, he had to admit he very much liked what he saw. He had assumed Icha had given Rose more clothing her first night home for the Doctor's benefit, but he had expected something less feminine, less... fitting. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen any slaves wearing loose clothing. It was probably a bad idea to allow them to wear clothing one could hide potentially dangerous objects in.

Apparently, his expression was cause for Rose to bite the curve of her lip. Her mouth slackened when she looked to Icha, and the Doctor followed her eyes. The cat woman was watching him, but brightened and looked to Rose when he saw her.

"I haven't seen that outfit for some time. It looks good on you, Lily."

Rose smiled politely in what the Doctor assumed was thanks. Icha approved and left the room, and they were of course expected to follow.

The Doctor took Rose's hand and leaned close. "Got anything for me in those drawers?"

She grinned mischievously. "Not unless you've got some Time Lord gender-swapping trick I don't know about."

They followed Icha into the lounging room, where she swiftly waved them on to the kitchen. Delighted to spend some much needed time with Rose, the Doctor practically raced her once halfway down the hallway.

"You _let_ me win!" Rose accused the Doctor once they were inside. "Don't be goin' easy on me!"

"Or what? You'll tell on me?"

Rose suddenly went serious, looking around the kitchen. "Doctor, it's been botherin' me. How did we get here?"

The Doctor frowned at her, taking a couple of steps towards her and further into the kitchen. Assuming she wasn't talking about the walk to Icha's house, "You know we're not on Gestaapa anymore, right?"

"Yeah, worked that out." She gestured towards the hallway. "With all the cats walkin' around with people as pets. I didn't see any cats on Gestaapa." The Doctor's lips began to stretch in a grin as she spoke, which drew her eye. "I suppose it could be a different culture, different continent, but you would've told me. You knew about the event that night, knew what it was like, which means you've been there before." Now, the Doctor was beaming at her. "Still, could've been wrong, so when I was able to see the sky, I could tell it was all wrong to be the same planet. What's so funny?"

"Not funny, brilliant. My brilliant Rose!"

Rose shrugged. "Not like I didn't have two weeks to think it over. But that man on Gestaapa, at the shoppe. He sold us as slaves, didn't he? Where's the TARDIS?"

His grin faded slowly, and his eyes turning towards the oven. "I don't know. I can't sense her, so I assume still on Gestaapa. There are a couple of ways I could pull it here remotely, but I can't well do it with Icha around."

Rose hugged herself and turned at her hips, swinging around idly on rooted feet as her eyes wandered the room. "Yeah, well at least we've got each other. Nobody's gonna figure out how to get into the TARDIS, and you'll eventually find it." She looked up at him. "We can make the best of it." Rose had started to smile, but when the Doctor didn't return it, she wilted. "What is it?"

"There's something going on here, Rose. I don't know what it is yet, but catkind aren't supposed to have slaves, ever."

Rose frowned. "Supposed to? Like a Time War thing?"

The Doctor nodded. "If you like. They never had a period of slavery in their entire history. Something's altered the way of life on Paurin, the mentality of the people on this little planet. Their power station's massive, way too big for such a small establishment. It's little more than an outpost and it's pumping power right out into the atmosphere because its modest design has been bloated and extended past its limits." He laughed wryly. "They probably spend more effort holding it together than they do producing it."

Rose looked anxiously at him. "So we in danger, then? How long have we got to get out of this place?"

"Oh," he waved a hand dismissively. "The planet's not going to explode tomorrow or anything. At least, I hope not." His eyes met Rose's widening eyes and he quickly assured her, "The plant has been growing for years. It's not going to suddenly destabilise on its own." Rose's expression calmed somewhat, but she still looked wary. He lowered his head to catch her attention straight on. "And the cats aren't going to devolve from slavery and start eating people, either."

This got Rose to chuckle, the tension escaping with some of her breath. The Doctor was rewarded with her shining smile.

"There we go!" the Doctor grinned brightly and patted Rose's arm. "We'll figure out how to save the world, but right now, we've got to make breakfast!"

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Doctor introduced a curious Rose to scrambled pink eggs. He was sat on the sofa polishing off his marmalade on toast when he peered down at Rose. She was absorbed in Icha's programme, and he hoped he wouldn't eventually find himself tuning the TARDIS aerial to the cat soap station so Rose could find out how they all ended. Taking advantage of her distraction, the Doctor sneaked his fork down to her plate and slipped its prongs into a piece of egg. Unfortunately for his hand, Rose noticed without outwardly diverting her attention and slapped him on the wrist. He made a face she didn't see, and Rose plucked the bit of egg from his fork and popped it into her mouth.

Despite his thwarted attempt at nicking Rose's food, the Doctor had eaten just enough to be satisfied. After Icha had pet him a while and finally had enough of his furlessness, the Doctor sat up on the sofa and pulled on his shirt.

He was in a good mood. Although he was the tallest one in the room, the Doctor felt the need to be higher, a distinctive desire to perch on something. He got up from the sofa and collected their plates. Instead of taking them to the kitchen, he left them in a neat pile on a doily protecting a shiny wood table near the hall and hopped up onto a broad footstool. Behind a high-back chair was a taller cabinet displaying useless knickknacks and gaudy painted statuettes. He snatched up the modest-looking pillow resting on the chair, tossed it on top of the cabinet, and climbed up after it.

Rose and Icha had been watching him, as he expected they would be. As he sat down on the pillow atop the cabinet, Icha appeared ready to scold him. She faltered when she saw he wasn't going to slip or break anything, curiousity and amusement showing through, and the Doctor was pleased to see he had read Icha correctly. He flashed a grin down at her.

Guessing Icha probably wasn't interested in participating, the Doctor looked to Rose and leaned over his lap, patting the front of the cabinet in invitation. Rose grinned but glanced warily at Icha. No, wrong way to think, Rose, look at me! He tapped again and Rose's attention was drawn by the sound. He gave her an insistent look, and after a moment, Rose unwound from her position and walked over.

She was about to look round again, so while still leaning over the cabinet, he snapped his fingers in front of her. The Doctor gave Rose a look that said she had better cut it out, and he could tell by her response that she understood. He nodded his head towards the chair he had used to climb up, and after a moment, Rose stepped over to it.

As Rose climbed the chair, the Doctor snuck a glance at Icha. She was sat up from her pillows, watching them, on the edge of annoyance but still silent. Curious.

Fantastic.

The Doctor knew Icha didn't just want a slave. If she had, he knew now Icha wouldn't have picked him. No, she wanted a pet. Well, he would give her a show.

Not that he was being silly for Icha's benefit. No, playing with Rose was just loads of fun.

He was glad to see that two weeks hadn't affected the dexterity their adventures together had refined in Rose. She was on top of the cabinet in short order, and just before she reached him, the Doctor pushed off the edge and dropped to the carpets. He crouched looking up at her, poking his teeth with his tongue and bobbing his eyebrows, hoping she wouldn't rattle the contents of the cabinet.

Rose looked confused at first, but it gave way to animated determination at the challenge. Thankfully nothing in the cabinet moved, and the Doctor sped off as Rose landed right behind him.

He scaled the cushions to the high back of the chair just below the big screen on the wall, a place he had been before, and scanned the room for his next destination. Unfortunately, there weren't many more high places he could escape to. Pretty much all of the furniture was in a semicircle along the wall around the sofa, and he had covered most of it. His current location was a bit easier to get to than the last, and his pursuer was soon upon his latest perch.

The Doctor jumped, narrowly missing being swiped. "Hah!" Once on the carpets, he bolted for a grouping of spindly chair legs near the right hall and dove between them. After tucking himself securely underneath the chairs, he looked back just in time to see Rose disappear above him. He hadn't counted on her trying to cut him off on the other side. Turning at a right angle, he crawled for the safety of a dark gap between two hefty loveseats.

He had almost made it when the chair leg nearest him shifted, and he looked up through a crack in the cushions and saw Rose's silhouette. He heaved on the chair leg, pulling the chairs together and made for the gap. Halfway in, his leg caught, and he realised it was Rose's grip. He groaned in defeat. Rose giggled.

Backtracking, the Doctor peered up through the crack and grinned. Rose was there. Now she was in trouble.

Rose laughed and jumped away just as he reached up for her. He crawled out from under the chairs and spotted Rose waiting for him near the sofa. Rose bolted as he got to his feet, and he gave chase. He had to admit, he wasn't expecting to get this far without being buzzed. He could hardly complain.

Rose ran for the foyer, and they both zipped past the sofa and through the archway.

There wasn't really anywhere to go except back into the lounging room. To the Doctor's surprise, Rose ran for the staircase and mounted the first steps.

"No, Rose!" he hissed.

Rose looked back at him, apparently unaware of the danger. "What?" She whispered.

"I told you! Not up there!"

"If you keep your voice down," Rose pointed to the lounging room, "she won't notice!"

The Doctor grimaced and gripped his collar, giving it a little shake and pointed to the top of the stairs. Rose followed his gestures and her face fell. She stared up the staircase, realising what had almost just happened. The Doctor raised both hands in truce. "Five seconds," he whispered and cocked his head towards the lounging room.

Rose grinned and came down the steps, cleared the foyer and disappeared back through the archway. The Doctor counted five seconds and followed.

He was surprised when Rose was nowhere in sight. He walked to the centre of the room and looked both ways down the two corridors, but she wasn't in either of them. There wouldn't have been time enough for her to get to the kitchen the one way or even the bedroom the other way. No, she was in this room.

The Doctor scanned the room with predatory eyes. Ooh, where was the little minx? He hadn't had this much fun in some time. Granted, a simple game of tag didn't well compare to running for their lives or fouling an evil plot to take over a world, but it didn't have to. He was trapped here, the last of the Time Lords playing tag with his companion, locked inside a big cat house in a doomed little settlement on a lonely moon of a planet, and for just a breath of time, none of it mattered.

It wasn't an activity he could imagine himself capable of sharing with many other people, and he would enjoy it for what it was.

He settled on Icha, who watched him with open amusement. There was something held back in her face, though... of course, she would know where Rose had hidden.

Had Icha just glanced at the group of chairs near the hall? Of course, Rose could hide there between the loveseats without being seen. The Doctor crossed the room and got down on his hands and knees to get a good look between the chair legs. No Rose. He got up and mounted the cushions, closing on the gap between the loveseats.

There was the faintest of stirring behind him, and he whipped round.

Rose dropped his pillow and was attempting to sneak along the sofa towards the hall. How had she fit under his pillow? When he looked her way, Rose began to run.

Ooh, she wouldn't get away. She was fast, yes, but he was quicker. Launching off the chairs, the Doctor covered the space between them in a few strides and pounced. Rose saw the inevitable coming and squealed. The Doctor shifted his momentum slightly so as not to crash directly into her and hauled her with him onto the sofa.

Rose laughed, and the Doctor giggled as he wrestled and pinned her forearms. Rose quieted and gazed up at him with shining eyes, her lungs labouring.

God, she was beautiful.

Rose expressed her discomfort with her eyes, indicating they weren't alone. Suddenly aware that they were directly in front of Icha, the Doctor's face heated, and he carefully shifted to the side to allow Rose to get up. He first thought to avoid looking at Icha, but really there was no point in attempting to deny what had obviously passed between them. He could at least acknowledge he was in a bad way.

As he feared, Icha was extremely guarded, all traces of amusement gone. She studied the Doctor for a moment, and he did his best to express his awareness of how tenuous his situation was as he made his way back to his spot on the sofa. Rose scooted across with him and dropped down the side as if both had been instructed even though not a word had been said.

What _had_ passed between them? He and Rose very much needed to talk, but it was of course not an option. It was frustrating to be going through this with Rose, something that was so very important to their friendship, and have the third element of slavery interfering like this. They had known each other for a fair amount of time, and here their latest two-week trouble had to go mucking things up.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Lunch time came. The Doctor and Rose got up and stretched, but Icha checked the Doctor by the wrist.

"No, Marwari. Lily can handle it. You've had three opportunities to show her the kitchen. Stay here." Icha motioned to Rose. "Lily goes."

No, that wasn't fair! The Doctor looked to Rose, worried for her. She was surprised, but only for a moment and seemed to accept it quickly. The Doctor offered his most apologetic look, and Rose gave him a grim smile and left for the kitchen. He watched after her. There was nothing he could do. So much for having a talk.

After what had happened just a short while ago, he thought it to be in their best interest not to appear too angry about Rose being sent off alone. At Icha's insistent clawing at his shoulder, the Doctor governed a sigh of annoyance and stripped off his shirt, submitting to the one controlling their collars. He wondered if Rose would decide to make a bad job of lunch in an attempt to show Icha she still needed help in the kitchen.

It felt like a long time, but when Rose popped around the corner with a platter in each hand, the Doctor knew she hadn't been away longer than she had needed to. He sat up, and Rose set the trays down in front of him.

"Ah, Lily, looks lovely." Icha fixed herself a little plate, then the other two had their own. Icha delicately tasted the tea. "Mm, well done, Lily." She smiled warmly. "You will make a decent cook. I'm sure you'll get better with practice, just like Marwari."

Rose looked to him for his response to that, and he rolled his eyes dramatically at an angle Icha couldn't see.

After lunch and another mind-numbing programme, Icha got up, stretched, and headed for the foyer. "I'll be right back, Marwari, Lily. Clean up and meet me here."

The Doctor and Rose got up, eager to do something else. They each took a tray as Icha disappeared and walked towards the kitchen.

"What we doin' now?" Rose asked.

He took a deep breath in thought. "One of two things likely. She's probably changing clothes. I hope we're going for a walk."

Rose took a moment to respond. "And the other thing?"

They entered the kitchen and the Doctor took Rose's tray while she put the dishes in the washer. "Apparently, Icha thinks I'm a good _masseur_."

Her brow rose. "Oh?"

"Yep! Dunno, maybe you'll have a go at it. If not today, eventually." He entertained himself with a mental image of the idea.

They finished up in the kitchen and headed back for the lounging room. The Doctor's earlier thoughts weighed heavily on his mind as they now had an opportunity to speak freely. Some time had passed since then, however, and he found it difficult to broach the subject. What if Rose hadn't thought their connection on the sofa a big deal, and he drew unnecessary attention to it?

Icha had just come down when they entered the lounging room, and when the Doctor saw she was wearing her off-white robe, his spirits fell.

"Come along, then!" Icha said excitedly. She moved off towards the PCOS room, and the Doctor led Rose after her. Icha unlocked the door, and the Doctor sighed and pulled at his ear. This wasn't going to be fun.

The familiar muzzy lighting and calming music kicked up as they entered, and the Doctor peered at Rose. She was looking all around at the foliage along the walls and finally centered on the table in the middle. Since she knew what it was for, her initial reaction wasn't nearly the one of terror the Doctor's had been, but she still appeared uneasy.

The Doctor rested his palms on the cupboard and looked down its surface, remembering the time he had been thrown against it after "misbehaving". Rose's sudden surprise as she whirled round towards the wall next to him indicated Icha had disrobed. Rose glanced sidelong at him, a look loaded with accusation. He bugged his eyes and shrugged. What, did she think he had looked at some point on purpose?

And even if he had, what was it to her?

"You two, don't be silly. Marwari, come here."

The Doctor turned. Icha had made herself comfortable and was waiting for him. He edged around the table to the other side and gently smoothed his hands down Icha's back. It was strange how something he had grown accustomed to could feel easy enough to do, but with Rose watching, it was as if he were being made to do this again for the first time. Rose's face was unreadable. She met his eyes briefly, but for the most part, she watched his movements over Icha's furry curves.

He couldn't help but wonder if this and sending Rose off to cook by herself were in response to what Icha saw from the two of them earlier, or if she had intended to do them anyway. Either way, he would have to be very careful in what he allowed Icha to witness. He didn't want her to think they were out of her control and feel a need to separate them.

Icha purred deeply as he thumbed outward from either side of her lower spine.

Rose seemed to mentally shake herself and looked away, her eyes catching on the remote near the doorway. She studied it a moment, and the Doctor could see the cogs working in her mind. When she looked at him, he could tell she planned on doing something stupid. Before he could warn her with a look of his own, her attention moved on to Icha. Apparently satisfied Icha wasn't watching her, Rose took a step towards the remote.

He couldn't stop what he was doing without alerting Icha that there was something worth stopping for. He shook his head at Rose, but she didn't catch it. No, Rose, you can't just pluck it up out of the socket. It's pet proof!

Not seeing he had any other choice, the Doctor came around the table, and Rose stopped to look at him. He gently turned her away from the doorway and guided her towards the far wall.

"Ah, yes, Lily. You don't have to stand about. Sit down. Get comfortable," Icha drawled sleepily. "Marwari and I may be a while yet."

Rose turned towards him once they had reached the wall, appearing confused and uncomfortable, and the Doctor placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. He shook his head, pleading with her to not try anything. The last thing he wanted was to see her shocked again. Now she looked frustrated. He stretched his mouth into a grim line and pressed on her shoulders, prompting her to sit. Rose hesitated, but she eventually complied.

The Doctor returned to Icha's side and began working on a new area, much to Icha's delight, but he was watching Rose. She hugged her legs and curled against the wall, trying in vain to distract herself with the leafy vegetation above her.

Icha's lack of invitation for Rose to learn from the Doctor in this activity wasn't lost on him. He made a point of avoiding situations like this in the past. Women were complicated, and he'd rather just avoid getting caught in between altogether. He didn't have the luxury of deciding enough was enough and leading his companion away this time, however. Icha was in a position of authority, and his choices were limited to what she would tolerate.

Playing tag had seemed like a good idea at the time. If he didn't proceed more carefully in the future, he could find himself losing what little allowance Icha had granted him.

Losing Rose wasn't worth the risk.


	15. Sanctuary

Just to clarify in response to TimeLadyofthePings' review, I've noticed the Doctor tends to use the female pronoun when referring to the TARDIS the being and the neutral pronoun when referring to the TARDIS the ship. He uses both here as he has in canon.

I have a surprise for all of you. ^_^ I made cover art for Feline's Fancy in the form of a wallpaper. Yes, it took hours of writing time, but it's SO worth it. Writing can always wait another day. Go to my deviantART (my homepage link on profile) to download it. If you would like me to size it for your desktop or have any questions, feel free to send me a message.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

_Zap. Bzzzzt-zap-zap_.

_Click._

"Got it!" the Doctor announced in a hushed tone and grinned from ear to ear. He carefully extracted the lock pick connectors from the door. "Don't smell anything funny, do you? I hope her key will still work."

The door opened and Rose peered out at him excitedly, matching his grin. "Right, that's more like it. Now you can give me a proper tour, yeah?" The Doctor stood, and she enveloped him in a hug.

"Oof. Right! Although, you've seen most of it already. Just the library left, really."

Rose pulled back, her hands still locked behind his neck. "And your cupboard under the stairs."

"Uh, well, yes, but it's just that... a cupboard."

She regarded him seriously. "So, let's see it."

Her look gave him pause. "Right, yeah." He tried to shake it off lightly. "Well, I've got to stash this, anyway." He lifted the mass of probes and wires still in his left hand. "Come on."

Rose let him go, settling her left hand in his right as they padded softly through the lounging room and into the foyer. They peered up towards the landing in the dim night lighting, but there was only silence.

The Doctor put a finger to his lips and tiptoed to his cupboard door. He pulled it open, finding everything as he had abandoned it before his jailbreak mission. Ducking inside, he tucked the lock pick away. He gripped the opening preparing to pull himself out, but his companion darkened the exit and crawled inside after him.

"Um..." the Doctor watched Rose, surprised. He was about to protest, to insist there really wasn't room for both of them, but Rose fluffed his pillow up against the wall and squeezed between it and him. She settled herself and peered around in the darkness. "Wouldn't it be easier to have a look without me in here?"

Rose didn't avoid the question so much as ignore it altogether. "Cozy, isn't it? Can't say much for the lighting, though."

"Yeah, well, I did make a light," he admitted conversationally, his voice graveled in his hushed tone. "It exploded when I tried to open the front door, though. Snap! No more light." He was studying Rose's movements as he spoke, attempting to ascertain her intentions, and he paused. "If you like, I got one working in the library. I think of the place as a bit of a sanctuary."

Rose turned to look at him in the darkness, the soft light from the foyer allowing him to determine the direction of her eyes.

It wasn't that he minded being close to Rose. True, it was pleasant to have Rose relative to the same place he kept his few possessions. It made him feel he could better protect her, even though he knew it was a false sensation. The small space made her alluring scent somewhat overpowering, however, and he really should get out. "I know _this_ is a sanctuary of sorts, but the library's more... comfortable."

Rose immediately picked up on his insistence, seeming to come to her senses. "Yeah. 'Course. Definitely more comfortable." She wiggled herself to her feet and the Doctor followed her out of the cupboard.

Feeling better, the Doctor took a deep breath of the foyer and silently led the way back past the bedroom and towards the library.

Having spent a good deal of time in the library in the dark, the Doctor moved easily through the hazy purple glow from outside to the table lamp and switched it on. During the day, the large bay windows suffused the room with bright daylight. The lamp lit the room completely differently. It lit the books and miscellaneous on the shelves weakly from below and cast long shadows from the chairs.

The Doctor spun and grinned, showing off what wasn't his, and spoke at normal volume. "See? Cozy."

Rose had waited at the doorway, unfamiliar with the layout in the dark. She peered curiously up into the shadows of the bookcases and stepped inside.

He picked up the book next to the lamp and weighed it in his hand. It had been the last one he had read. He looked to the shelves. "I've read most of them. The one book I _want_ to read is upstairs. Icha took it away from me."

"Did she?" Rose said, amused. "What do you suppose you have to do to get it?"

"Dunno. She may not ever let me have a look. Here we go." The Doctor pulled out a chair and motioned for Rose to sit. She did so, and he took a chair opposite her at the table and flipped open the pages of the book. "I've managed to work out a few things. Catkind hasn't always been the dominant race here." He pointed to a passage. "It says here they made up about a third of the original settlement population and served mostly in a scientific capacity, some of which pertains to the power plant. I'm guessing that's significant since that's where the trouble seems to be." He idly flipped pages, peering at them in hopes something would jump out at him.

Rose leaned forward, her elbows on the table. "So what made them dominant and start enslaving people?"

The Doctor sighted down his finger at her. "That's the question. Whatever it is, it shouldn't have happened."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

After enjoying the ability to converse freely for a couple of hours, they left the library and strolled down the hall aimlessly. To the Doctor's surprise, Rose turned into the bedroom, and he followed. He supposed the room wouldn't feel so much a prison now since the door was "unlocked."

"Welcome to the penthouse," Rose introduced with little attempt to hide the sarcasm. It was a richly crafted room, just like the rest of the estate, but it was obviously tailored to be usable by a slave. It was free of breakable objects, and the inward lock on the door was a good giveaway.

He scrutinised the decor, having more time to look around than he did that morning. "Nice place. Lots of soft things. Poofy chairs, springy carpets." The Doctor conveyed annoyance. "Why do you get a suite and I get a cupboard? And the light! You didn't tell me you had your own light at night."

"Guess she likes me more," Rose said, continuing her streak of false condescension.

"Your own washroom." The Doctor peered around the inner doorway leading from the room. "Jealous," he sing-songed. He was rewarded when Rose smiled. "I still don't know about the wardrobe, though." He approached the chest of drawers and pulled on a handle, frowning down at the drawer's contents. "Certainly there's something in here I could use."

Rose swayed by, licking her lip. "I wouldn't be going through there. Those are the intimates."

The Doctor promptly shut the drawer and opened the next one. He pulled out several tops. "These are all for women?"

"Told you."

"So what, men sleep in a cupboard and women in a room?" he grouched. "What's that about?"

Rose was on her way to the washroom and looked critically over her shoulder. "Lots of rooms, isn't there? Maybe there's one for you, eventually."

The Doctor calmed. "Yeah, maybe."

Rose disappeared into the washroom, and the Doctor sat on the bed, waiting and looking around. When Rose emerged, she was in her pet shoppe attire. The Doctor questioned her with a look.

"Well I can't very well sleep in my sweater and jeans, can I?"

He frowned crossly. "Sleep?"

Rose tugged on the duvet, making him stand, and scooted under. "I can't function after staying up all night like you. Not when I'm bored out of my head." She looked at him properly once settled. "You don't have to go. You broke the lock."

Even though he knew an open invitation had always been implied due to circumstances, it was strange to hear her verbalise it. The edge of fear in her eyes mirrored his own, as if the idea of having him out of her sight for another night would be enough to raise panic. The room was _her_ sanctuary, but only if he was there with her, and the bed was easily big enough for two.

He smiled in assurance. "'Course not. I'll be here until Icha wakes up, if that's okay with you. Then we'll be together all day."

"Icha's not gonna come down, though? Catch us?"

"Nah. She never has." Rose looked doubtfully at him, and he insisted. "If she does, we'll deal with it. I wouldn't worry, though."

She smiled slowly. "It's a bit exciting."

He grinned in agreement. "Hard to come by around here."

Rose continued to smile at him, and the Doctor had to appreciate the way her hair splayed on the pillow. "Get the light?"

He nodded and searched, locating the panel on the other side of the bed. Once the room was darkened, he decided having Rose sleep wouldn't be so bad if he didn't have to leave.

Coming around the bed again, the Doctor settled carefully on the duvet and pillow. It was nice to be on a proper bed. He would rather be out doing something, but if he had to wait, this was the way to do it.

Rose blindly found him in the chest and slid a hand up over his shoulder, determining his location and assuring herself he was near. He squeezed her hand in his own and settled them against his chest, over his hearts.

"I dunno how I got so lucky," Rose spoke into the darkness.

The Doctor puzzled over the simple statement a moment before answering. "Yeah, the chances were against me finding you a fortnight later in the same place."

There was silence, and the Doctor started to doubt he had interpreted her correctly. If so, she didn't correct him. Rose finally sighed and her breathing evened out. He had hoped they could maybe talk some, but she was clearly more tired than he had thought.

"Good night, Rose."

"Night," she replied sleepily.

He smiled to himself, content. In the TARDIS, the words usually preceded a lonely night without her presence to fill the timeless void. He never tired of her and could always go to her if he wished to, but he would never admit to Rose that he couldn't even wait out a night of her sleeping without feeling her absence. Even though she would sleep now and be silent, she was a lot closer now than her TARDIS bedroom was to the console room.

He frowned. Functionally, they were far apart in the TARDIS as her room was down the corridor from the console room, but since his now unique ship was a lot bigger on the inside than the outside, they were spatially both crammed into a small wooden police box. He sighed, his hearts aching as he wondered if he would ever see the TARDIS again. He missed her presence terribly.

Having nothing to do while Rose fell asleep but think on the physics of the Time and Relative Dimensions In Space, the Doctor proceeded to do so. After satisfying himself with his contemplations until he was a strange mix of bored and halfway bewildered, he turned his thoughts towards their predicament.

He really should do something to get them out of here. Now that he knew Rose was on the planet with him and he had the drive to protect her, he had to figure out how to stop whatever was threatening them. Rose had said she was lucky, but relatively, she was in a lot more danger than the average British individual of her home town. How did one define luck?

The Doctor wondered about her courage, if he had actually done her a disservice in the long run. She sometimes said things that scared him, careless things, and he thought maybe she had too much faith in him.

No, what was he on about? He'd done his fair share of daft things in the name of courage, too. He _could_ take a closer look at every place they landed before stepping out the door. He _could_ scan for alien tech as he had been told to, incidentally, by the one whose carefulness was in question.

He smiled to himself again. Rose _was_ lucky. She was lucky to be Rose, brilliant and important and making a difference in ways she wouldn't have been able to. Yes, it was a dangerous lifestyle, and he considered himself infinitely more blessed to have her journey alongside him, but in the end, wasn't it worth it?

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Doctor snuck back to his cupboard before dawn. Icha woke and led him to Rose's door, apparently clueless he had disabled the lock the night before. Later, she decided to take them for a walk. She attached the Doctor's blue leash to his collar and a deep red one to Rose's and walked out the door into the fresh warm air with both of them in tow.

It was silly, really, that they wore leashes. Sure, they were an added form of control for Icha, but they didn't do anything to keep them from escaping. As they descended the grand curved steps onto the walk, the Doctor unclipped and switched them when Icha wasn't looking. Rose looked uneasy at first, but he assured her with a grin and waited to see how long until Icha noticed.

Before they reached the trellised arch, Rose turned to gaze at the three-leaf beholders, and was still staring at them as they passed. Oh, but they were brilliant flowers! How could he have not shown them to Rose before?

The Doctor caught up the slack of his leash and applied easy tension until Icha slowed and turned. He looked at the beholders and back to Icha. She raised a silver eyebrow, so the Doctor began moving towards them, and after a moment, Icha allowed herself to be pulled along.

He bent down a little to smell one of the higher blooms on the large bush, showing Rose it was safe to do so, and Rose found one a little lower to appreciate. She pulled back in alarm, and he grinned. From directly above flower, the stamens displayed what looked like eyes. And the closed petals... the Doctor gingerly grasped the base of the bulb and pinched, just like one would the much smaller snapdragon. The petals popped open, and a large "eye" stared back at Rose.

Rose started slightly and grinned at her skittishness. The Doctor grinned back and looked at Icha. She was smiling, too, amused by Rose's reaction.

Scanning over the bush of beholders, the Doctor could see other various classes of plants in the extensive gardens stretching out from either side of the walk. He looked to Icha and walked off the path, and sure enough, Icha followed.

He stopped next to a quaint bench and looked around.

"You want to play in the garden, then?" Icha asked from behind him. He turned and smiled, but Icha looked sad and his smile faded. What about the garden made her sad? Did she avoid it, and that's why they had never visited it? She recovered and sighed. "All right, come here." Icha reached to unclip his leash and noticed they had been swapped. She squinted up at him and unfastened both of them. "Oh, you cheeky thing. Now, run along. Stay where I can see you. Don't wander too far, or your collars will automatically warn you to come back."

The Doctor expected as much. Rose smiled brilliantly and took his hand. The pair of them started off barefoot through the cool blades of thick violet grass, heading further into the garden. Behind them, Icha seated herself on the bench to watch them.

They passed through the shade of a tree, and something caught Rose's eye. She let go of his hand and walked towards a cluster of bright yellow flowers the Doctor was unfamiliar with. He stopped and watched her, smiling to himself. No one walked the way Rose did, not even Icha, and Rose didn't even realise she was doing it.

Rose crouched and smelled the flowers, her eyes drifting closed as she concentrated on their beauty. Sunlight filtered through the branches, its rays settling in dappled patches that caused her hair to shine gold, a colour that put the flowers' blooms to shame. She looked up at him, then, her eyes exhibiting her excitement, and waved him over. He approached and crouched next to her, guided a bloom to his nose and inhaled its scent.

"Mm, very nice."

Rose was watching him. She looked around contentedly. "I like this place."

He smiled, studying her as she looked around. "Me, too."

They stood together and Rose led the way out from under the tree and across an expanse of sun-warmed lawn. Across the way, more manicured vegetation crowded in the corner created by two walls of the mansion.

"Hm. That's the lounging room, there, where it meets the corridor to the kitchen." He looked left, down the length of the long wall. "I'm sure of it."

"Mm, probably, yeah," Rose agreed distractedly, and the Doctor could tell she wasn't interested. He frowned and hooked his thumbs on his waistband since he didn't have pockets and trailed after her as she went around the corner.

Looking back at Icha, Rose decided that way was too far out of sight and continued on. The Doctor took in a breath of fresh air. The sunlight felt good on the back of his clad thighs.

A strange warble came from the branches of a copse of trees nearby, and Rose was drawn to it out of curiousity. A small path led between two lean trunks, and they could hear running water from within the leafy refuge.

Rose again looked towards Icha. The grove was out of sight, but she wanted to look inside. With a monkeyish glance back at the Doctor, Rose stole inside. He grinned daringly and followed.

A natural fountain burbled over rocks and pooled around fingered roots that arched gracefully to support a large central tree. The call from above shifted quickly, and they looked up.

"Look!" The Doctor pointed as brilliant red feathers caught the sunlight as the bird zipped from one tree to another.

Rose grinned excitedly at him. "What is it?"

"Dunno," he admitted happily.

Rose moved to the side of the pool and crouched in the sprawling bed of tender pink ground cover, and the Doctor peered over her shoulder. Multicolored fish darted away from her, fleeing towards deeper water.

Both jumped suddenly as their collars buzzed.

"Oop, time to go," the Doctor managed through a suddenly tense throat. They quickly backtracked, making themselves visible. As expected, the buzzing stopped. Icha was looking their way, but other than that, she was too far away to read.

They made their way slowly towards her, looking for anything they might have passed up. Everything was beautiful, but nothing jumped out at them as they neared the bench, and neither of them were keen on getting closer, so they turned and milled about in companionable silence, staying in sight.

As they walked, Rose lightly slapped him on the arm.

The Doctor peered curiously at her. She grinned, but she didn't let on to what she wanted. When he stopped, she poked him in the chest and looked at him again expectantly. He raised his eyebrows.

Rose glanced at Icha behind him for a fraction of a second then bit her lip at him. Suddenly, she turned and bolted.

The Doctor raised his head in understanding, amused. He was wary due to how the last game of tag ended, but Rose wanted to play, and who was he to deny her?

Ignoring Icha behind him, the Doctor took off across the lawn after Rose.

Unlike the lounging room, there was plenty of space to tear it up out here. He chased her around trees and across lawns, through tiny thickets and even over a little bridge. He wasn't used to running barefoot, and he could only imagine how much easier it would be if he had his trainers, but at least they shared the disadvantage. If anything, he had two weeks of walking over her.

Even if he couldn't immediately catch up to her, he knew he could outlast her. It was difficult for a human to compete with a binary vascular system.

And tire Rose did. He was surprised at how long she had evaded him. Tagging her on the shoulder, Rose stopped and braced her hands on her knees, panting. The Doctor grinned and stopped, panting hard, too. He waited with her but made sure to keep out of reach. After throwing him several threatening looks, she caught her breath and gave chase. The Doctor laughed and legged it.

It wasn't fun having to avoid the paths that led them out of Icha's sight. After covering the same ground twice over, the Doctor decided to change things up. Besides, they could use a rest.

Putting some distance between himself and Rose, the Doctor came around the copse of trees and jumped for a low-hanging branch he had passed before. After putting some muscle into it, the Doctor managed to haul himself up onto the bough just as Rose came around the corner after him. Rose gasped.

The Doctor grinned triumphantly down at her, knowing the branch was too high for her to reach. When he saw the shock on her face, however, he was suddenly concerned. "What?" She didn't answer at first, looking at the trunk near him in alarm. He looked over his shoulder, but saw nothing. "Rose? What is it?"

"Get down!" She pointed at the ground. "Jump, Doctor! Get out of the tree!"

He frowned, confused, looking again at the empty branches. She glared at him.

"_Now!_"

Convinced Rose wasn't playing anymore, he shifted his weight and dropped from the tree, striding towards her and looking up. "What did you see?"

She pointed, indicating the spot he had jumped from to reach the branch and made an arc up towards the branches. "Something jumped, right after you did. I don't see it now, but it was there, I swear it. Just sort of... a flicker of something, flashed in the light."

The Doctor swallowed, a chill tickling his spine. There was nothing there, now.

"Marwari? Lily?" Icha called from a distance. "Come on, you two. Time to go inside."

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

"I love the garden. Think we can we go again tomorrow?" Rose asked as she dropped onto the bed with a bounce.

The Doctor closed the bedroom door quietly and sat down next to her. "I was hoping to avoid bringing my leash to Icha begging to be walked, but it may be worth it."

Rose wanted to laugh, but yawned instead. "God, I'm tired. I stayed up too late last night." She winked at him.

"Yeah? And you think Icha didn't notice with you napping on my pillow all evening?"

"For what, an hour? Listening to soaps? I don't call that rest." Rose got up and entered the small bathroom, returning a minute later in her slave shorts and torso band. "You're staying, right?"

The Doctor stood and smiled as she crawled between the sheets. He had quite enjoyed being close to her last night. "'Course, yeah." He switched off the light and lay down.

There was a pause in the darkness. "Doctor?"

"Mm?"

"It's not fair you should have to spend all night on the duvet. And your clothes will get all rumpled."

He frowned. "They're already rumpled. I don't usually change anyway. It's fine."

Another pause. "I won't bite you. Don't be silly. There's a basket of shorts by the sink."

The Doctor hesitated, mulling over her words. He was ninety-five percent sure her intentions were as they sounded, but that five percent was enough to hold him back. He and Rose were close friends, had been through so much together, and he really was being silly.

Hold on a tick." He slipped into the bathroom and plucked up a pair of clean slave shorts from the basket. He changed quickly and crossed to the bed, climbing under the sheets next to Rose.

"So any clever ideas as to what I saw?" Rose asked.

The Doctor turned on his side towards her, supporting his head with an arm. The sheets really did feel nice. "Ideas, yes. Any of them likely? Hard to say without knowing more about it."

"Was it something, though? Or did I just imagine it? Trick of the light?"

It was something the Doctor had given considerable thought. It was definitely not a trick of the light, he knew. No, there was something going on, and he was sure it was attached to Zel Power. At the moment, though, he was at a loss as to what he could do about it. "I wouldn't worry too much. Anyway, I thought you'd be more interested in the three-leaf beholder."

Rose paused in confusion. "Come again?"

"The flower!" he said, as if it was obvious. "Lots of eyes?"

"Oh, right! Beholder, you said?"

"Yes, like the mythical creature. Well, allegedly mythical. They're not real eyes, of course. They frighten off animals that think the flower looks tasty, yet they don't scare away the pollinating insects."

"Huh. Like an animal's gonna know how to open the petals like you did and see the eye before it eats it."

He shrugged. "Some animals have fingers. Didn't you think it looked tasty?"

A pause. "You callin' me an animal?"

The Doctor fought a grin in the blackness. "So what if I am?" He imagined Rose would be studying him in that flirtatious way of hers if she could see him. Uncomfortable, he blurted out, "We've been through this. Stupid apes, remember?"

"Yeah." Sure enough, Rose's reply was muted, and the Doctor thought maybe he should have picked his words more carefully. She turned away and pressed her back into him. "Gonna keep this stupid ape warm all night?"

The Doctor closed his eyes and settled a hand on her arm, unsure where to put it. He reveled in the feel of her soft thighs against his. "You're warmer than me," he murmured somewhat breathlessly. Warm Rose. He could get used to this.

"Keep me cool, then?"

He smiled. "Sure."

As the Doctor held her, Rose drifted off to sleep. He closed his eyes, drifting himself, but not in sleep.

He could feel the world around them rotating, revolving. If he were human, he imagined he would be feeling very small, trapped. His first sense, however, one humans didn't have, filled him with importance and purpose. Not that humans couldn't feel important and purposeful, but they usually couldn't feel the world turn in the same way he could. Right now, it was all he was holding on to. That, and Rose.

He would get them out of this.


	16. Visitor and Muffins

Muffins! For Kyle. ^_~

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After a satisfying breakfast made by Rose, the three of them watched a bit of telly. The Doctor had seen this episode before, and he couldn't for the lives of him understand why Icha would be watching it again within two weeks until he looked down at Rose. She appeared to be glued to the screen. Perhaps it was a girl thing.

The protagonist in the programme was about to save the girl of his dreams, and it was all about to get way too mushy for his tastes. So, as the hero swooped to safety with his fair maiden to a fireball explosion in the background, the Doctor silently reached down from the sofa and covered Rose's eyes with his hand. She grinned in amusement as the audio track proceeded to inform her as to why and attempted to bat his hand away. He insisted on blocking her view just to spite her, which caused her to fight harder. By the time he had almost fallen off the sofa with his efforts, Icha scolded him.

"Marwari!"

The Doctor straightened and looked to Icha, a mischievous grin still on his face, but he calmed down.

Icha huffed and returned her attention to the programme. "Males."

The Doctor frowned in mock offense and looked down at Rose. She poked her tongue adorably at him and ignored him again.

Then, the doorbell rang.

He had never heard the sound before, but it was definitely the door. The Doctor sat up straight, alert with curiousity. He looked to Icha.

"Oh, dear..." Icha said, appearing to have been caught off guard as well. She obviously wasn't used to visitors. After sliding off the sofa, Icha padded into the foyer.

The Doctor looked down at Rose, who was just as eager as he was to have something happening. He slid down his side of the sofa and gave her a hand up. Together, they peered around the corner into the foyer.

Icha opened the door and a familiar looking woman smiled at her.

"Tress?"

"Oh Icha, I know how you are with visitors, but I was sure you wouldn't mind me popping by. I've got so much to tell you!"

"Yes, of course! Um..." Icha looked back at the Doctor and Rose. The pair merely stared back, waiting. Icha turned her attention back to Tress, who had followed Icha's motions and had noticed the Doctor and Rose. Tress looked surprised to see them both, but Icha continued. "I was just about to take my pets for a walk. Would you care to join me?"

"That would be lovely, yes." Tress agreed, her voice still exhibiting her surprise. She had seen the Doctor before, but not Rose.

"I'll be just a moment. Please, do come inside."

Icha closed the door behind Tress and went upstairs. The Doctor found it significant that with such a large estate clearly made for entertaining guests, Icha would choose to leave when someone came to visit. Why didn't she ever have visitors in the house, but didn't mind pets sharing it with her?

As Icha had never instructed the Doctor and Rose to stay put, he welcomed the opportunity to meet someone more on his own terms. He didn't plan on speaking to Tress, but he could at least approach her. Coming around the corner with Rose in tow, he nodded his head in greeting.

Tress stared at him, appearing uncomfortable. The Doctor stopped, remembering Tress had been intimidated by him in the past. He pulled Rose alongside and looked down to her, and she looked back, uncertain.

Now that he thought about it, Tress hadn't actually seen Icha chastise him for speaking. At least, she may not have noticed his reaction when Icha buzzed his collar in front of her. She knew he could speak.

The Doctor squeezed Rose's hand and smiled. She smiled back. He offered Tress the same smile. "Hello."

Sure enough, Rose caught on. "Hello," she echoed with her own smile.

Tress didn't flinch, but she didn't respond positively either. She merely looked back and forth between the pair of them, waiting.

To the Doctor's surprise, Rose let go of his hand and took slow steps forward. She and Tress were about the same height, and as Rose approached, she had Tress' full attention.

Rose extended her hand when close. "Nice to meet you."

The Doctor grinned. Rose had obviously noticed the cat woman's fear of him and had taken the initiative to put her mind at ease.

"Yes, quite," Tress said, but didn't return the hand. She took a step back, looking up the stairs after Icha nervously before settling her gaze once again on Rose. "She teach you that?" Her comment was toned in a way that implied Tress really didn't expect an answer.

It was interesting to note how people other than Icha viewed speech from slaves. The Doctor looked to Rose to see what she would do, but Icha appeared on the landing and started down the stairs.

"Now, then," Icha said brightly. She was dressed for a walk, complete with her handbag. Tress' attention turned easily from Rose and didn't return. Icha noticed the Doctor and Rose in the foyer, but she didn't show any surprise. She produced their leashes and attached them to both collars. "Come along Marwari, Lily."

The two feline women led the way out the door and down the grand marble steps. Their conversation was about a mutual friend, a topic that didn't interest the Doctor in the slightest. He shared a smile with Rose, both happy to be outside.

As they approached the trellis work, the Doctor tried his luck in slowing Icha with tension on his leash. Rose joined in by pulling a little on her own. Icha stopped speaking and turned to see her pets looking towards the garden.

To the Doctor's surprise, Icha smiled at them. "You wish to play in the garden again?" Icha looked to Tress. "What do you say, Tress? It's really quite lovely this time of year."

Tress blinked. "Yes, of course," she said, sounding pleased and once again surprised. "I didn't think you took to the garden anymore."

The foursome turned down the little path leading to the bench Icha had used before. They stopped in front of it, and Icha turned and started unclipping their leashes. The Doctor waited patiently, as if she were doing up his tie.

"Oh Icha, I would never have expected something like this from you," Tress said from behind her. Icha half-turned, puzzled. "You're just asking for trouble with these two. Even if you've spayed her, they clearly--"

Icha shushed her and met the Doctor's eyes. It was clear she didn't want Tress making such comments in front of them. A slave's ability to understand their language so easily wasn't always an advantage for Icha.

She finished with their collars and shooed them off. "Run along. Stay where I can see you."

As the Doctor and Rose did just that, Icha and Tress sat on the bench. The Doctor was looking back over his shoulder at them when Rose tagged him playfully and ran. He was caught off guard, but he quickly recovered and took after her with a laugh.

It wasn't by verbal agreement that they avoided the tree that had spooked Rose yesterday, but they chased each other everywhere else within sight of the little bench. The Doctor had caught up to Rose and tagged her before she had gotten to the bridge, and he had to turn tail quickly to avoid being tagged right back. He couldn't recall specifics of the game, if there was supposed to be a few seconds of immunity after tagging someone, but he decided it didn't really matter enough for him to ask.

There wasn't anyplace new to go, but the copse of trees Icha had buzzed them out of the day before looked very inviting. He dared to duck inside, but after passing through the entrance, he lost his resolve and decided it wasn't worth pushing it. Unfortunately, Rose didn't see him stop and slammed right into him.

"Ow!" the Doctor cried.

Rose blinked through the stars with a hand to her mouth then focused on him. "Sorry!" she giggled. "You all right?"

"Yeah," he admitted, massaging his elbow. "You?" Rose nodded. "Does that count as a tag?"

"Better believe it!" Rose grinned and ran away. The Doctor laughed, pulled in a deep breath and chased after her.

Rose tried to lose him by cutting across an orange and blue flower patch and around a bundle of white-leaved trees, and it almost worked, but he was lucky to catch a glimpse of her doubling back in a stray beam of sunlight. He skidded to a halt and backtracked, moving to cut her off. He didn't quite make it before Rose saw him, and she had to run full pelt across the expanse of sun-warmed lavender lawn to avoid being caught.

The Doctor put his last bit of effort into catching up and finally tagged her. Rose wailed in defeat and dropped unceremoniously to the grass, panting. The Doctor slowed his pace and collapsed next to her. He would have laughed if he wasn't so focused on catching his breath.

For the moment, the Doctor was content to just lie in the grass. Rose was sitting, looking around. After a minute he sat up and joined her.

"I wonder how often Icha will let us come here," Rose said between breaths.

"Dunno. From what I gather, she's more receptive to the idea than yesterday." He scooted a bit closer. "Besides, it's good exercise for her pets. She can't argue with that."

It was then Rose turned to face him properly and he noticed her lower lip was a bit swollen. He frowned in concern and touched it gingerly. Rose flinched away.

"You get hurt? Was that from when you ran into me?"

"It's nothin', really," Rose toned dismissively.

"You never said!" the Doctor insisted. He tried to catch her chin to get a better look, but Rose turned her head away.

"Really, Doctor, I'm fine."

The Doctor forcefully took hold of her head to keep her from squirming so he could get a proper look. Unable to look away, Rose sucked on her lip self-consciously, studying his eyes intently.

Yes, of course she would be fine. The Doctor made himself relax his grip, his hearts continuing to pump strongly despite their respite. A stray lock of hair tickled her face in the easy breeze, and he gently tucked it behind her ear. Flushed from exercise, Rose let go of her lip, and he found himself reacting unexpectedly to its agitated state. The sunlight set her golden hair aglow and penetrated the rich honey depths of her eyes, and the Doctor realised with a small amount of alarm that he was about to kiss her.

He really would have, he knew, if self-preservation hadn't kicked in just in time. He couldn't help but look past Rose towards the bench and notice the two women watching them.

For a moment, two instincts within him warred with each other, and he was caught between pulling away from her and actually going through with it. Despite the brightness of this patch of the garden, Rose's eyes had dilated, and she appeared to be fighting an internal battle as well.

In the end, the idea of Icha shocking Rose made up the Doctor's mind. He eased back and sat up straight and found he couldn't keep looking at her and hold his resolve, so he dropped his attention to the violet blades poking up from around their knees and concentrated on reigning in his breathing.

In the silence of his mind, the Doctor cursed Icha's interference. Who was she to determine what he could and couldn't do? He had the freedom to roam the entirety of time and space, go and do whatever he liked, and an ignorant little cat woman decided to keep the last of the Time Lords for her own little house pet. Sure, he could always just outlive Icha and escape, but Rose was human and wouldn't.

Then again, maybe Icha kept him from doing something stupid.

If they hadn't been captured and enslaved on Paurin, however, the Doctor doubted their friendship would even be stressed in such a way. Adventuring kept them well occupied and their minds on other things. The Doctor was focused on reacting to danger and keeping Rose safe, but here in their lazy little world, they were bored and aimless. They loved each other, he knew, but companionship through their trials had always been enough to sate them even if their endless drive to run and run was not. Now, he had to wonder if another element to their relationship was what either of them really wanted.

Icha called them in. They had only been out long enough for a couple of games, and he guessed they had gotten too close to each other for her comfort. The Doctor wished he had known their time was so limited so he could take advantage of their precious time apart from Icha to talk, to work out with each other what needed to be said. Another part of him thanked Icha for forcing him to avoid it.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The rest of the day was without event. Being bored meant dwelling on anything and everything, and since a certain topic was fresh in the Doctor's mind, he had to work hard to avoid thinking about it.

That night, the Doctor held Rose close. They didn't talk about earlier that day, even now that they had the opportunity to. It was stupid, really, because the Doctor's excuse that Rose was probably just harmlessly flirty didn't work anymore. By the time the Doctor came to this conclusion and had worked up the resolve to talk about it, Rose had drifted to sleep, and his wish not to disturb her became his new excuse.

The next morning, Icha favoured a visit to the PCOS room. It was Rose's third time inside the room, and the Doctor wished Icha would let her just hang out in the lounging room while he was made to work. Rose never offered to help, and she rarely watched him before, but today she did, and the Doctor found it unnerving.

Rose leaned back against the wall with her hands behind her, following his every move. He tried to keep his strokes over Icha's fur natural, but a few times the cat woman shifted uncomfortably, and he wondered just how off he was. He found his concentration fragmented, split between performing a decent massage and whether or not his mind was inventing the heat he saw in Rose's gaze.

Watching telly was as dull as ever, and the Doctor continued to come up with ways of combating boredom. The first time the Doctor draped his arm over the side of the sofa and touched Rose lightly at the temple with his fingertips, Rose had pulled away in shock. After she understood he was only trying to show her an amusing image relating to the currently running programme, she smiled receptively, and further attempts at touching her mind were followed with muffled laughter. The Doctor found himself using telepathy much more lately in place of speaking, since he really didn't have much choice.

The Doctor wasn't sure how, but he managed to convince Icha without saying a word that she should let him accompany Rose in fixing lunch. Perhaps his plan to surprise her came out in his expression better than he thought.

"How did you manage?" Rose whispered as they neared the kitchen.

I saw a package of muffin mix days ago, and it just occurred to me I could use it as an excuse, but I didn't really think through how I would ask her. I dunno how she was able to pick up on it. Or maybe she's tired of your cooking."

Rose stuck him in the ribs, and he feigned hurt.

They found a muffin pan and started collecting ingredients. Rose pulled the eggs out of the refrigerator. "Think they'll come out pink from the egg colour?"

The Doctor grinned happily. "Let's find out."

Rose handed him the bowl. "Since it was your idea, you get to mix."

After the batter was whipped up, the Doctor began pouring into cups. Rose apparently thought he was taking too long, because she snatched the bowl from him and took over.

"Oi, can never be too careful."

"Yes, yes you can. Watch the expert."

He had to admit, she did prove him wrong.

"Is this the part where I tease you about spending too much time in the kitchen?"

Rose peered at him sidelong while scraping batter into the last cup. "If I recall, Icha thinks you cook better than me. You've been around how many years? Perhaps you spent a few of them as a dinner lady?"

The Doctor wavered between showing hurt and giggling at being teased back and snatched the empty bowl back. Well, the bowl was _almost_ empty.

Rose turned with a mitt and slid the pan into the oven. "So, I've been wondering. Is Derren Brown an alien?"

The Doctor paused mid-lick of the bowl, making an effort to track Rose's random reference. "The mentalist? Where did that come from?"

Rose dropped the mitt on the counter and pulled a glass down from a shelf. "Just wondering. Dunno, I miss home. Helps to talk about Earthy things." She poured herself some water and before she took a sip, she insisted, "So, is he?"

He lapped at the batter carefully with his tongue and smiled in amusement. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Oh my God, he is!" Rose exclaimed and looked to the Doctor. She apparently just then noticed what he was doing.

"I never said that."

"But you hinted at it, though," Rose insisted distractedly. She was watching his tongue.

The Doctor sucked his tongue clean and made another broad swipe in his mission to lick the bowl clean. "Mm, no I didn't. Well, if I did, it wasn't intentional. He _could_ just be a very intelligent person."

That got Rose's attention. She challenged his eyes with her own. "You saying aliens are intelligent and human's aren't?"

Another lick. Rose watched. He frowned. "No, I believe you said that, not me. You're inferring that I said Derren Brown is an alien. I didn't. Why are you staring at me?"

Rose snapped out of it, but not before licking her own lips sympathetically. "Uh... no reason," she squeaked. She cleared her throat. "I mean," she gestured towards him, "you've got batter on your chin."

The Doctor swiped at it and checked his fingers. He didn't. He looked to Rose, who was busying herself uselessly with the sink, and he raised his eyebrows, amused.

After the oven dinged, the Doctor, Rose, and Icha enjoyed the muffins, tinged slightly pink.


	17. Feed

Stir-crazy yet? You should be. Here we go!

I dedicate this chapter to TenRose reviewing fans of my previous fics who wanted more. You know who you are. Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day. ^_~

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We've been on Paurin three weeks now."

"Really?" Rose inquired from the bedroom's washroom.

"Yep. Today was our eighteenth day."

"Blimey. It does feel it, for sure. I guess I just never worked out how many days." Rose emerged, crossed to the bed, and slipped between the sheets. "That woman needs to find a more interesting hobby."

The Doctor couldn't help but appreciate Rose's display of skin while the light was still on. He could feel her all he wanted as she slept. Modestly, of course.

As he reached for the light switch, he peered down at Rose. Tonight was going to be another tough night.

He flicked the switch, walked to the washroom to change into shorts, then curled up behind Rose. She sighed contentedly.

"Night, Doctor."

"Good night, Rose." The Doctor waited for her to drift off to sleep.

He hadn't been able to stay until morning the last couple of nights. He would stay at least until she fell asleep then get up early and retreat to the library or his cupboard, returning only to check on her to put his mind at ease. Rose needed him there to feel secure, and he admitted he felt better knowing she was safe within his arms, but as the days passed, he found it more and more difficult to keep his thoughts pure in her presence.

The Doctor wasn't aroused easily. He prided himself on his resistance to womanly charms, or in some cases manly, and he attributed this part of his nature to be partly due to what he found important in life. Not only that, but he was Gallifreyan--cycles of his body weren't as automatic as those of the average human. He had a great deal of control over his biological rhythms and functions.

He was always taking companions to travel with him. The universe was infinitely complex in any given instant, and as one solitary being, it was often very lonely, especially now that he was the only one of his kind left in all of existence. The Doctor was curious and fun-loving, but he preferred to keep his relationships simple. When they began to get complex, he would find a way to move on. It was a part of outliving people.

Something about Rose, however, had captured his hearts in a way that lifted him out of the mire of loneliness like no other. His thoughts scattered when he tried to work out why, but one memory that always easily sprung to mind was that of the first impressions of his current regeneration.

Rose had looked into the heart of the TARDIS, absorbed the Time Vortex into herself, and created herself as the Bad Wolf in order to save his life. He couldn't bear to see it rip her apart, so he took it into himself in order to return it to the TARDIS and save Rose's life. As he had begun to die from the exposure, his thoughts had been centered fully on Rose. She had risked her life to save him, the destroyer of Gallifrey and possibly Skaro. The Bad Wolf, with its knowledge of events across all time and space had seen what he had done, and she had chosen to save him anyway.

The Doctor hugged Rose to him. Of course, she didn't remember any of it now.

He had regenerated for her. She had been there, with him. He had learned his new self in her presence.

She had shaped him into what he was, and in a way, he belonged to her.

"Doctor?"

He almost started. Distracted with his own thoughts, he hadn't noticed Rose was still awake.

"Hm?"

A pause. "Can we talk?"

The Doctor swallowed. He had an idea what about. "Of course."

Rose shifted and the room's light came on, but only just. It matched the dim lighting of the foyer and corridors he had seen throughout the house at night, barely bright enough to see by when one's eyes were adjusted to the darkness.

He frowned at Rose. "I didn't know you had that setting in here, too."

"Yep. Discovered it this morning. There's a sensor just below the panel."

Huh. "Nice."

Rose lay down facing him and searched his face. He gazed back at her from under his brows, giving Rose his full attention. Did she want him to guess?

"What's on your mind?"

Rose continued to stare at him. "You."

The Doctor's brows went up, but at the magnitude of her admission coupled with his understanding of its context, they stopped short. He made an effort to keep his voice steady. "Oh?"

"What happened in the garden. I've been thinking a lot about it."

The Doctor dropped his gaze, attempting to appear casual, but his eyes quickly returned to hers. He hung on her every move, determined not to miss a cue. His first reaction was to conceal that he too had been thinking a lot about it, but it left a bad aftertaste. He had been here before, and he didn't really feel like hiding behind harmless flirtation anymore. There was something strong between them, and he discovered that despite his usual reserve, in this he wanted more.

"Me, too."

Rose was surprised, and frankly, so was he. It was her turn to hang on every motion of his, her eyes begging him to go on.

The look she gave him now caused a sudden panic to rise up, threatening to overwhelm him, and the Doctor chickened out. Throwing back the duvet, he swung his legs over and stood. What he wanted wasn't always what was best.

"Doctor!"

He stopped, and at Rose's insistent tone, he forced himself to half-turn and peer down at her.

"You said we could talk." She was now sitting up and she looked him up and down, and the Doctor realised this must have been the first time she had gotten a proper look at him in just his shorts. The revelation only served to complicate the situation, and he stopped just short of growling under his breath. In a few swift strides, he was in the washroom reclaiming his clothing.

"Don't walk away from me!" Rose demanded. "The garden yesterday. You just said you've been thinking about it, too." Her voice then lost some of its power but was still strained. "Bad things? Like it was a mistake?"

The Doctor emerged in his trousers and was threading his arms into his shirt. He wasn't angry at Rose, but it was essential she understand him. "No. I mean, yes, a mistake, perhaps, but not bad things."

He caught the look on her face after he pulled the shirt over his head. Even in the dim light, he could see the glimmer of moisture in her eyes.

The Doctor shook his head, devastated to have done this to her, and his voice almost broke as he began pulling his shirt down over his torso. "I'm sorry, Rose, I can't do this. I just... I can't."

"You can't, or you won't?" Rose challenged in a small voice. The Doctor sighed and opened his mouth, about to lecture her, but she apparently didn't want to hear it. "Is it a physical thing? 'Cause I'm thinking it's emotional. You won't, 'cause I'm human and someday my fragile life will fade away, leaving only you. It's like you said before, Doctor, you'll live on. Isn't it better, though, to have loved?"

The Doctor, now fully dressed, stood peering down at her from next to the bed, his patience barely restrained. Rose plowed on.

"What happened to you, Doctor? You must've loved before. So long ago, you were a father. You said so. What happened that hit you so hard, you stopped? You've lived so long, piled so much guilt on top of yourself, that you've suffered through the years long enough to make yourself forget?"

Now, the Doctor stared at her in dead shock. He managed to breathe the word, "What?" conveying the summation of his surprise and suspicion. How had she put so much together? How long had she kept it bottled up?

"Something happened, I get that," Rose said, her tone much softer now. "Whatever it is, though, it's not worth doing this to yourself."

The Doctor shook his head at her, and he could feel his own tears pricking his eyes. "You don't know, Rose. You can't possibly know what it was like."

"Then tell me," Rose stressed, leaning towards him.

He stood a moment, just looking at her. She was sincere, of course, but could she possibly handle his pain? Would she flee in terror at his past deeds?

The Bad Wolf hadn't. Its knowledge had been from the Vortex, but its strength had been hers.

The Doctor turned away and lowered himself slowly to the edge of the bed, no longer sure what he knew.

Rose touched his arm lightly and then his cheek, turning his face towards her. She looked weightily at him. "I've seen the way you've looked at me. You can't say you don't feel the same way, can you?"

The Doctor covered the hand on his face with his own. "What I want isn't always what's best."

Rose frowned, contemplating a moment, then squinted at him shrewdly. "Is this about what's best for the universe, or what's best for you?"

The Doctor frowned back. "What?"

"Yesterday, you were about ready to kiss me. I could tell. Then you looked at Icha and pulled away. Did you stop because you didn't want to, or she didn't want you to?"

Rose was being silly, now. "Because she would have hurt us. I couldn't bear to see her shock you. I think you know that."

"And here we are, now. No Icha." Rose scanned the room briefly, making her point. "What's holding you back now?" She leaned in to him for emphasis. "The. Same. Thing. You could have escaped ages ago and rescued me, but you didn't, because it would have involved hurting Icha."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows and lowered his head at her in surprise.

Rose smiled at his reaction. "I know you, Doctor. You're so clever, yet you limit yourself by what you think is right. Not that it's a bad thing. It would be wrong to hurt her, even if it means sacrificing me. She's ignorant, but not a bad person." Rose shrugged. "So she would've shocked us. How many times have you been shocked? Did it hurt for more than a minute? Wouldn't it have been worth it? You know Icha better than I do. She won't separate us. She's way too attached to her Marwari to see him pine away his life without his Lily."

He swallowed self-consciously and watched Rose intently. When she smiled at him, he didn't feel nine hundred anymore. If anything, she seemed to be the one nine centuries old. Rose had clearly given this some serious thought. Something was changing within the Doctor, and it was wonderful and terrible all at once. Rose was right.

What she said did sound like him. Where had he gone wrong?

"How did you get to be so wise?"

Rose poked her upper lip with the tip of her tongue just off to the side, the way she did that often drove him crazy, and he almost gave in right then and there.

"Oh, actually," she gestured towards the wall behind him in all dismissive seriousness, "there's a teleprompter, just there. Brilliant inventions, really."

The Doctor grinned lightheartedly. He had thought their adventures were what kept them together, but perhaps they were merely a distraction from what he _did_ want all along. Sometimes what was best for him _could_ be what was best for the universe, too. His grin faded slowly.

"Rose."

"Mm?"

The Doctor took Rose's hand in both of his and squeezed it affectionately. "You've awoken something within me, something I haven't felt in lifetimes. Part of something you've created in this regeneration, I think."

Rose frowned at him. "Come again?"

The Doctor licked his lips and turned fully towards her, sitting cross-legged on the bed. "When I regenerated, I wasn't thinking about myself, what I wanted. I was thinking about you, and how hard it would be on you. You were the most important thing on my mind, and when I changed..." he straightened, looking her over. "The mind's more powerful than the body. I'm betting the way I am now was an attempt of my subconscious to mirror what I thought you would like, what I imagined best for you."

Rose swallowed, studying him furiously. "Seriously?"

He nodded, but after a moment tossed his head to the side. "It's a theory, anyway."

"You never said."

"Well." The Doctor's mouth twitched and he glanced sideways, a subtle form of shrug.

Rose was watching him intently. She pushed her full mouth closed with her lower lip, 'causing it to pucker slightly and draw his eye. Rose did it quite often, and the Doctor was convinced she was oblivious to the effect it had on him.

"Tell you what, though."

She looked him in the eye. "Hm?"

"I'm quite sure I'm tired of talking," he informed her, as if broaching a most interesting topic.

Rose's eyebrows rose skeptically, and she grinned in amusement. "You? Tired of talking?"

"Oh, yes," he insisted earnestly as he reached to touch the side of Rose's face. His fingertips threaded their way into the hair behind her ear, and in one smooth motion, the Doctor closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to hers.

He was afraid to breathe, lest he disturb the delicate contact between their mouths. Rose whimpered, and she seemed to share in his momentary contentment to be still as it sank in just what they were doing.

He wasn't sure who moved first. The Doctor moaned softly, Rose's full lips more than a match for his own. He wanted to bite at them, but he felt the need to hold back, to revel in this new intimacy with Rose that was turning his insides to jelly. It was a slow, sliding dance the Doctor felt he could keep up for the rest of eternity.

While Rose showed no sign of having enough, either, he couldn't imagine she could be falling apart as much as he was. He suspected his predicament was amusing to her when he felt her lips pull back in a grin, the shaking breaths against his cheek giving her away.

Rose Tyler was _laughing_ at him.

Reservations forced aside, the Doctor grasped her head in both hands, summoned from his extensive supply of courage and growled, nipping at Rose's lower lip. He was rewarded when her lungs expanded and she moaned into his mouth. Encouraged, the Doctor tried to make her do it again.

Rose shifted so she could get closer, her lower half still tangled in the sheets. In her attempt, she rose up somewhat on her knees and was now slightly higher than him. Rose clung to him and began her own assault to his lips, and it was all he could do to pull in panting breaths as his hearts strengthened into a staccato throbbing in his chest. In a matter of seconds, Rose had him coming completely undone.

He hadn't expected things to heat up so quickly, and when Rose suddenly broke the kiss, he guessed she hadn't either.

"Doctor..." Rose began.

Rose's big, alluring eyes gazed down into his. He wanted to capture the look on her face forever. He swallowed at the depth of emotion that radiated from her, feeling the pleasant tenderness of his mouth as he did so. In the dimness of the night lighting, he could see her own lips, plumped fuller than usual from their play with pressure, and he gave into the urge to give them more attention.

Rose ran her hands across his scalp and through his hair. The way she encompassed the Doctor's whole world, easily matching him move for move revealed to him a sensual appetite he had forgotten he possessed. He pressed into her mouth, seeking to learn the slick contours of her teeth. Feeling the need for more control, the Doctor braced his legs under himself somewhat to rival her height.

His thumbs before each ear, the Doctor plunged into her mouth, careful not to press too deeply, working his tongue in a slow, instinctual rhythm, meant to stimulate her looser and looser. A growl slipped from his throat as he explored and stroked, feeding from her. Rose responded with a sound that shot clean through him.

The Doctor pressed a hand to her back, pulling her closer. He released her mouth and ventured to taste her neck. The pliant flesh yielded easily to his teeth and tongue. As Rose shivered and began to relax into his grip, he laid her back, carefully guiding her head towards her pillow.

From their new position, Rose looked up at him. Seeing the desire for him in her eyes shook him to his core.

The Doctor settled himself over and slightly off to the side of her, holding himself up with an elbow. His mind fuzzy, he lowered his head to nuzzle her jaw. He murmured her name, intoxicated by her scent and the sounds of her labored breathing, and he hardly recognised his own voice. Rose's heated hands slid under his shirt and up the cool skin of his back. He smoothed his free hand down the gentle curves of her side and over her hip, pushing at the sheets as he continued down her bare thigh.

The Doctor felt his body tightening, priming for action. Rose was setting him on fire. Every nerve came alive with a burning need to drive her wild, to see her lose control, and the little voice telling him he should stop was being flooded over by the torrent of lustful energy surging through his veins.

"My Rose," the Doctor growled. He kissed and nibbled at her throat, tenderising the sensitive flesh. Rose dug her fingers into the muscle at either side of his spine. Provoked, the Doctor latched onto the thin skin and pulled. Hard. Rose cried out and bucked wildly against him.

Excited by what he could do to her, the Doctor was disoriented when Rose abruptly began pushing roughly against him. Horrified he had misread her and done something terribly wrong, he raised his head and peered earnestly into her face, strangely lit in a soft blue in the near darkness. Her frightened expression was directed behind him.

"Doctor!"

He followed her direction of sight and caught a faint bluish glow over his shoulder. Something was on him. He snapped out of his Rose-induced haze in a violent twist of his body, the creature being flung off his back and onto the floor. He stared as the outline of a deep sea fish with legs writhed on its back in a fit, its luminescence casting along the texture of the carpet weirdly, until it slowly just... disappeared.

All was dark. It was gone.

No, it was NOT gone.

"Who are you?" the Doctor demanded into the dim room. "What do you want?"

A chill ran up the Doctor's spine. He _knew_ it was still there, but he couldn't see it. "Light!"

The Doctor slapped his palm to the wall panel next to the bed, and the room's lamps flooded into blessed but painful brilliance. He scanned the room as his eyes fought to adjust.

"What was it?" Rose asked timidly. "It's what I saw before, isn't it?"

"Why haven't they ever touched me before?" the Doctor mumbled to himself, still breathing hard. He hadn't even felt the thing's weight on him. "Why would they feed off me? They're getting desperate..."

"Feed off you? Is it dangerous?"

"No. Well, maybe. Come on." The Doctor bounded off the bed.

Rose untangled herself from the sheets and hurried to follow. "Where we going?"

"We've got to pin one down," the Doctor said as he rushed into the hallway. "Speak to it." He thought hard, his mind running through the necessary components he would need. Rose's grip on his arm made him stop and turn.

When she said nothing, the Doctor stopped short of asking "What?" when he saw the heat in her eyes. He slipped the fingers of one hand through the wisps of hair behind her ear and pressed a patient kiss to her lips. He came out of it slower than he had intended and offered her a hazy gaze. "Later, okay?"

Rose sighed happily. "How can you do that? Just rush off afterwards, all alien business?"

The Doctor beamed widely. "Not just another bloke, am I?" He winked. "Come on!"

Rose gestured behind them as she hurried after him. "Didn't we just have one shut in there, though?"

The Doctor waved his hand dismissively. "Sure, but they're everywhere anyway. We need to isolate one," he spun as he walked, pinching his fingers between him and Rose excitedly, "Connect with it."

"Hold on, everywhere? You mean they're all over the place, could be runnin' past us right now, and you never said?"

"There are lots of things that exist outside our natural perception, yet we coexist. Granted, most are microscopic, but some aren't. Just because we can't _see _it doesn't mean it's not there. Just because it's _there_ doesn't make it out to hurt us."

"Yeah," Rose intoned uncertainly, catching up to his backwards stride. "These aren't bacteria, Doctor."

"No, but... bacteria's just one form of life. Certain bacteria can kill you, as you know. Just because these are bigger doesn't mean they're that much more harmful."

Rose shook her head. "Right, whatever. How we gonna connect with one, then?"

The Doctor wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Make a trap." He turned to walk properly forwards again. "Question is, where am I going to get a phasomorphic converter?" He slowed to stop. Grimacing, he reached up to tug on his earlobe. "I don't have a phasomorphic converter."

To her credit, Rose piped up, "Can you make one?"

He sniffed, taking on the offense. "'Course I can. Just not without pre-amped mercury and a whole lot of time."

"Pre-amped..." Rose trailed off, and he turned to Rose's frowning face.

"Exactly!" he complained. "I'd have to put an amplification device together _just_ to amplify it, not to mention keep it stable until I could use it!"

The shake of Rose's head drew his attention. She was giving him "that look."

The Doctor made to put his hands in his pockets, but since he had none, he hooked his thumbs on his waistband. "Right. Sorry."

"So, we'll find another way." Rose looked at him as he pondered, and he could tell she was frustrated she couldn't help more. "Can't you bait 'em with a power source or something?"

"Yes, yes, that's what I want to do, but I can't tune _any _sort of trap for a phasmic creature that feeds off raw electricity _without_ a phasomorphic converter!" The Doctor stuck his jaw out, staring at the wall in concentration.

"Phasmic?"

"Phasmic," the Doctor repeated. "Ghost-like. You got a good look at it, too. It looked like an apparition, didn't it?"

"Sort of like the Gelth." Rose was nodding, for a time falling silent again. "Wait, so... they glow when they feed, yeah? Can't see 'em otherwise. They turn invisible."

"Exokinetic reaction, yes." He was trying to think down another path and answer Rose at the same time. "Their skin, their shell is electrified." He gripped the air loosely with his fingers. "The layer's so thin it's transparent. So thin, but a fire so intense. That's why it looks blue. It absorbs energy as it feeds across its entire exoskeleton."

"Whatever, yeah, but it needs electricity. It fed from us, from you. Aren't there much more powerful sources it could find? Why us?"

The Doctor leveled his gaze on her, his voice soft. "Don't underestimate yourself, Rose. The power we can create. The power we _did_ create. The power in me. You remember, my regeneration."

"But the factory, Doctor, on telly. The power plant, where all those slaves work. The creatures could feed from it, but there weren't any. We would _see_ them. Why can't we see them?"

The Doctor frowned. "Good question. Actually, that's a _very_ good question."

Where had they manifested before tonight? Rose had seen a flash of something chasing him up into the tree. There was that creepy flicker across the television screen, and now that he knew what the entire creature looked like, he figured the blue glow could have been the fish thing's face gaping out at him. And before that on a news programme there was a report about a slave that had seen one... a laborer at the power station.

"Ohhh..." the Doctor's mind was suddenly awhirl with a cascade of realisation. He thought back further, having seen something out of the corner of his eye out on the sunlit street when he had first arrived at the mansion, but when he had looked, there had been nothing. Electrical, _thermal_... exokinetic reaction!

"_Yes!_" the Doctor exclaimed. Rose jumped. "That's why I didn't feel it. It was drawing from vestige energy, not my reserves. They don't just suck on raw energy, they're _kinetivoric!_ Rose, you're a genius!"

"Ta," Rose grinned cheekily. It faded almost immediately. "They're what?"

"It makes sense now. The Zel power plant creates all this energy that _appears_ to be going to waste, but it's not. I bet they're smarter than they appear. They don't just swarm about and let themselves be seen. They're finding places to hide where they can still reach it."

Rose shifted her hips and crossed her arms. "So, these things are responsible for the power station growing out of control? Wouldn't it be better to feed off a healthy factory?"

The Doctor grinned. "You're starting to catch on. But no, they can't absorb energy directly from the plant. It's like how you can't naturally digest cellulose very well. It's not in your biology, and it's not in _their_ biology to feed off the potential. When energy's created to be used, kinetic energy of motion, they siphon off of it, like a battery does an engine."

Eyes wide in understanding, Rose beamed at him. "Right! They can only eat it while it's being burned, not the stored stuff."

He beamed expectantly. "And the power station being built the way it is?"

Rose stared at the wall, thinking, then looked inquiringly at him. "The people know about them?"

The Doctor tapped her on the nose. "Now you've got it."

"Oh my God. So what now?"

He turned back towards the lounging room and offered Rose his hand, and she took it immediately. "We don't need mercury anymore, but we're still making a trap." His eyes widened in excitement, the Doctor finding himself back in his element. "This one specifically for phasmic kinetivores."


	18. The Trap

The Doctor led Rose back to his cupboard under the stairs and quietly ducked inside. He hastily threw back the blankets and began picking up all the bits of his pilfered collection of parts, loading them into Rose's offered arms. After he had retrieved everything, he closed the door and carried his own load back through the foyer and down the corridor to the library.

Rose dumped her armload next to the Doctor's on the table and peered curiously at the contents of the accumulated pile. She began plucking up one bit at a time and squinting at it as the Doctor crossed to a drawer at one of the bookcases. "And how's this all gonna make a trap, or should I bother even asking?"

"My madly impressive skill at Junkyard Jiggery-Pokery. Here." The Doctor set a knife from the kitchen in front of Rose. "Use this, cut the rubbers off." He spilled a stack of pencils next to it on the table.

Rose pulled up the nearby chair and began sawing at a stick of wood. "Even cat people use pencils?"

Finding his own chair, the Doctor perched on the edge of its seat and began sorting through the tangle of wires. "Yep. Well, no, not originally, but this outpost was seeded partly by humans." He made a face. "That would also explain the soaps. Anyway, they've reappeared due to the arts community. Something about going natural and original works, getting lead on your fingers, etcetera. It's in one of the books in here." He pointed at the pencil Rose was working on. "Make sure you expose the core on both ends."

Both were silent for a few minutes as they concentrated on their respective tasks. Rose finished her second pencil and picked up another. "You okay?"

"'Course I am." The Doctor glanced at Rose after a moment when she didn't continue, hesitant to take his eyes off the delicate connections he was twisting apart. "'Why wouldn't I be?"

He could see Rose shrug out of the corner of his eye. "Dunno. Just... what happened earlier. I wasn't sure if... you know."

He frowned at the ends of wire in his hands. "Didn't I say? I didn't even feel the thing on me. They're just scavengers from what I can tell, don't do any real harm."

"No, I meant..." Rose hesitated, and the Doctor put down what he was doing and looked at her properly. She was studying him. "You and me. Are _we_ okay?"

Ah. The Doctor pulled in a deep breath through his nose and sat back in his chair, watching her. "What are we doing, Rose?"

Rose visibly flinched. "I know. Maybe it's 'cause we have nothing to distract ourselves with like we usually do. We never would've done what we did if we were fighting towards a goal. I really don't want to think we've ruined anything..."

The Doctor grinned. "Rose."

She stopped. "What?"

"What are we doing _right now_?"

She looked down at the table. "Chopping up pencils?" She pointed at the wires. "And that, whatever you're doing?"

"We're doing what we usually do. What we did before three weeks ago." Rose made eye contact, a look of confusion on her face. His eyebrows rose suggestively. "Fighting monsters? Saving a world that does or doesn't deserve it?"

A smile grew on Rose's face. "Yeah, I guess we are."

The Doctor smiled back and told her earnestly, "And I still need your help. I _want_ your help, want you by my side, every step of the way."

"Yeah?"

He nodded decisively. "Yes." He gestured to the table. "Shall we?"

Rose beamed and picked up a pencil, resuming her sawing with renewed determination.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Doctor was so focused on his work he didn't notice dawn begin to filter through the large bay windows. Rose did notice, thankfully, and the Doctor jumped up in alarm and began gathering the pieces of the work in progress together in a rush. Rose picked up what he couldn't carry, and they both hurried down the hall, Rose bending down to snatch what fell from his arms to the floor along the way. They reached the Doctor's cupboard and quickly dumped the parts on the blankets before he shooed Rose towards her room. She complied, rushing back out of the foyer, and the Doctor ducked inside and began hiding the pieces properly in the corner.

Not ten minutes later, Icha was awake.

After breakfast, Rose slept on the Doctor's pillow next to the sofa until lunch time. She blearily woke to go fix something in the kitchen. The Doctor watched Icha carefully. If she was suspicious of Rose's sleepiness, she did a good job of hiding it. Hopefully she would assume Rose was just bored and passing the time.

Icha took the Doctor and Rose to the PCOS room in the afternoon. Rose slumped in the corner and slept some more, and the Doctor was glad for it. He didn't think he could take her loaded looks after last night.

As the three of them made their way back down the hallway towards the lounging room, a flicker of something caught the Doctor's eye. Rose stopped, having seen it, too. When he stared at the spot it had been, it disappeared right before his eyes. Almost immediately he shifted his gaze, staring slightly off to the side. It reappeared in his peripheral vision, and it was a considerable effort to keep himself from looking directly at it.

There, crawling on the wall along the ceiling was the outline of one of the ethereal creatures. The fact that there was absolutely no sound to accompany its scurrying movements was frightening. As he stared past it, he could make out its long teeth and bulbous eyes as it moved past the light fixture. He tried to follow it, but the further it got from the light, the harder it became to see, and eventually it was gone.

Icha had never stopped walking. The fish thing had been far enough in front of them that she _should_ have seen it. Should have, but didn't. Curious.

Rose met his eyes, uncertain. He took her hand and rushed to catch up with Icha. It was a possibility that Icha was just used to seeing the creatures, but the Doctor didn't think so. When he had seen something on the screen in the lounging room, Icha would have known what he was reacting to, but she had been confused and had told him to calm down. She had been staring at the same spot he had.

The Doctor was willing to bet there was something about the catkind eye that couldn't register them. Their eyes weren't slitted like their distant, lesser cousin felines. They weren't nocturnal, and their eyes appeared humanoid, but genetically they had to be tuned somewhere in between. With exception of their last encounter in the dark bedroom when the creature had been feeding, they had always seen them in the light. The Doctor wondered if Icha couldn't see as high into the spectrum as he and Rose could.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Doctor had a lot of work to get done on his fish trap, he had come to call it. It needed this and that and he'd been eager to get to it all day, after Icha had gone to sleep. And he would. He really would, when he could. Right now, however, he couldn't seem to remember what "this and that" it needed, and when he tried to think again about what he was trying to put together, he had forgotten that, too, because as soon as he had dumped the half-built contraption with its associated bits and bobs on the table of the library and had sat down, a certain blonde vixen had climbed into his lap and was currently running her fingertips across his scalp and biting down on his Adam's apple.

His palms were against her shoulders, ready to push her away, but the Doctor didn't quite have it in him. "Rose," he croaked vulnerably.

"You said later," Rose mumbled into his skin, "I've been needing to feel you all day."

"We could attract the creatures again. For all I know they're clever and could figure out what I'm trying to make." He prodded her shoulders. "Rose, get off."

Rose chortled huskily. "Mm, I plan to."

The Doctor shut his eyes and groaned. Finding it within his fuzzy brain to make a decision, he pushed Rose back and moved with her, lifting by her rather firm backside and standing. Rose clung on, now distracted from her intentions by what he was doing, and the Doctor stepped over to the chair she had occupied last night and deposited her into it.

Removing her arms from around his neck proved difficult, so the Doctor pressed her back into the chair's plush fabric with a fiery siege to her mouth. He quickly began to lose focus on his goal as Rose snogged him back rather soundly, but as she started to give, the Doctor took advantage and deftly removed her hold on him. Rose opened her mouth when she realised he had outwitted her. The Doctor just grinned back cheekily and took his own seat.

"Now, then, where was I?" he announced brightly.

Rose sulked and pulled her legs up to her chest, crossly eyeing the object of the Doctor's attention. "You said they're everywhere, right? What makes you think they haven't overheard you on about trapping one of 'em already?

The Doctor hefted the bulk of the machine in his hands and turned it over. With the corner of his shirt, he rubbed the metallic contacts. "Mm, I told you, they're phasmic. Metaphysical."

"Like the Gelth."

He nodded, popping the top off a little container of powdered pencil lead. "Like the Gelth, except for these creatures, it's their natural state. They're drawn to sources of power in our world, but they don't really connect with it unless they're feeding from it." Gingerly, the Doctor pried the two halves of the machine open and began wetting the crevices along the inner groove of the essence duct with the tip of his tongue. "I don't know that they have a language, but it never hurts to be careful."

"God, don't _do_ that."

The Doctor looked up at Rose, frowning. "What?"

"_That!_" Rose pointed. "Licking things! You lick _everything_."

"Do not!" He frowned down at the contraption. "Not _everything_."

"Near enough."

"Maybe you just don't know what to do with your senses," the Doctor insisted conversationally as he peered closely at his task. "Humans have such dull gustatory receptors! You have no idea what you're missing. Imagine, for example," he gestured to the machine," if I couldn't tell the difference between platinum and a titanium-kerium alloy. Same colour, same temperature, so which is it? One taste? Obviously, it's platinum!"

Rose leaned an elbow on the table and rested her cheek in the palm of her hand. "So you're tasting it to make sure it's all platinum?"

"Well, no. I need this lead to stick in the holes so static doesn't interrupt the flow regulation." The Doctor took a pinch of lead from the container and began rubbing his fingertips together over the duct's groove.

"Right, yeah. Sticks just fine to your fingers."

"Shh. I only need a little bit."

"I crushed up all that just to have you mash it back together?" Rose groused.

"Yes, because as you can see, not a lot is getting on the duct."

"Need a spoon?"

"Quite possibly," he grumbled.

Hours later, the Doctor was making the final connections to the trap's components. After a particularly tricky bit, he huffed a relieved breath at his accomplishment. He closed his eyes and rubbed them deeply with his fingers, then peered over at Rose. She was asleep, curled up in her chair. She had slept for several hours, which had made it easier to get work on the contraption done. There hadn't really been anything for her to do in the final stages. He had missed her conversation, but really just having her nearby had been nice. He smiled thoughtfully at her.

The Doctor stood and arched his back, stretching slowly. It wasn't dawn yet, but it couldn't be far away either. Stiffly, he stepped over to Rose and prodded her gently. She roused sleepily.

"Mm...?"

"Wake up, Rose."

"More pencils?"

He began bustling about, collecting the connected parts together off the tabletop. "Nope. All done."

Rose blinked and stretched herself, watching him. "Finally. What now, then?"

The Doctor grinned over his shoulder at her. "Time to test it out!"

"Ooh, really?"

"Yep!" he confirmed, popping the "p". Kneeling down in the middle of the open space between the table and the entrance to the library, the Doctor carefully began arranging the parts in a circle. After he was happy with it, the Doctor unplugged the lamp, plunging the room into darkness, and brought the cord over. In the dim corridor light, the Doctor pointed to the far piece. "Rose, press the two extending corners together on that node while I plug it in."

Rose sat down next to the said node and pinched as she was told. "These are metal. Aren't I gonna get electrocuted?"

"Nah. We're not starting her up yet." The Doctor sat down next to the capacitor and fed the cord in. He nodded his head at her. "Now that's not gonna feel right, but trust me, it's the right way. Just hold it steady for me."

"Holding," Rose said.

The Doctor set the capacitor down with finality, waiting. When nothing happened, he looked to make sure Rose was doing it right. He flicked the antenna a couple of times, and suddenly it sprang to life.

Rose yelped in surprise and yanked her hand away. The two extending corners jumped apart, and a little arc of electricity danced between them. The Doctor grinned. "Ohh, look at that. Beautiful."

"You said it wouldn't shock me!" Rose complained.

"I said it wouldn't electrocute you. It's just a bit of electricity, nothing an electrical being can't handle. That's nothing compared to the collar." The Doctor got up and started jogging in place.

Rose watched him in exasperation. "What you doing now?"

"Burning a bit so they can see me better!" the Doctor eyed Rose daringly, his voice shaking with every step. "Residual energy, you feed off it yourself when you apply your mind to some task, get it going in a certain direction, then divert it to some other thought. Really, it explains why it's been difficult to do lately. These things have been draining me ever since I got here."

Her eyes went round in the low light. "Really?"

"Yep. You, too. Everyone here to an extent. I don't think Icha used to be so lazy." The Doctor sat back down. He grimaced down at the capacitor in his hands, blowing a few successive puffs of air into the channel. "This would be a lot easier with a Time Lord interface."

"Well since we don't have one, you'll just have to work your geeky magic on it, won't you?"

The Doctor craned his neck and made a face as Rose walked behind and past him. "Geeky?"

Rose ignored him and sat next to him on the floor. "Now what?"

The Doctor wiggled his eyebrows. "Time to turn it on." He grasped either side of the capacitor and closed his eyes.

"Can I help?"

He turned his head and peered at her. She could, of course. He grinned. "Sure you can." The Doctor shifted and linked her hand in his, his other hand on the capacitor. "Do like me. Touch this panel, here. We're going to make a circuit."

Rose did so. "Not keen on getting shocked again."

"Not this time, promise. In fact, you might even find it pleasant."

The Doctor closed his eyes, concentrating on moving the flow of energy in a single direction. "Nice even, steady breaths," he murmured. After a moment, he felt the movement begin, in through the capacitor and out the hand clasped with Rose's. It circulated, faster and faster, until finally he didn't want to exhale.

Amber sparks flickered between nodes, and the Doctor opened his eyes and grinned in excitement. "It's working!" Letting the circuit go, he quickly got to his feet and stepped back, pulling Rose along by the hand. Almost before they were clear, a deep thunderclap slammed through the air, accompanying a bright flash. The Doctor blinked to clear his vision, and there within the circle of nodes and its electrical field was a ghostly blue fish creature!

"Well, that didn't take long! I told you, they're _everywhere_!"

The fish thing's needle-caked jaws unhinged in a scream as its short smooth body writhed within its sparking cage, but the sound that accompanied it was unlike anything the Doctor had ever heard. It was a sort of mad hissing that scratched at his hearing, as if coming from right next to his ears. The Doctor sobered. He recognized it as a form of language.

"What are you?" the Doctor demanded.

The creature continued to hiss and throw itself about.

"Name yourself, or I'll keep you trapped forever. I think you know I'm capable," he warned dangerously, hoping the thrown-together pieces of equipment didn't fail.

The hissing grew louder, more clear as it translated properly into viable language. It spoke in a reverberating whisper that echoed in a unique accent, as if mimicking a form of speech not its own. "Zelshae!"

Rose gasped from next to him. "Zel Power...?"

The Doctor raised his head in understanding. "Indeed." More loudly, "How are the Zelshae influencing the power station? What do you plan to do?"

Electricity suddenly arced outwards from the circle, illuminating another creature _outside_ the trap. Another appeared on the other side a moment later, connected to a visible wavelength in the form of a blue glow sprouting from its own tiny dancing lightning bolt. Then another.

Oh, this could be bad. Yes, there had been a possibility the burning of energy would attract more of them, but he had thought they would have more time. He put a protective arm in front of Rose, slowly pulling her behind him.

The creatures seemed to be concentrating on the trap. They were trying to snap it. After realising they couldn't, the creatures turned towards the Doctor and Rose.

"Release..."

The Doctor hadn't accounted for the social aspect of the beings. He swallowed nervously, attempting to salvage what he could in the form of a negotiation. "Stay back, or that one's never getting out. It'll die in there if I can't shut it off."

The Zelshae either saw right through his bravado, or they didn't recognise the argument. They came closer. "Release..."

"All right, you win!" The Doctor put his hands up placatingly. The way he saw it, they were outnumbered by a species of unknown power, and he really didn't know how many more of them were in the room and what they could do to him and Rose in great numbers. Keeping his eye on them, the Doctor slowly stepped forward and braced his foot against the capacitor. Bending down, he picked up the power cord and gave it a yank.

The sparks ceased and the blue glow of the Zelshae dimmed considerably, but didn't quite die out. The one that had been trapped hissed in a high pitch and turned tail, and the dim forms of the others followed. The Doctor shared a look with Rose, and together they chased after them.

The Zelshae galloped oddly down the corridor, the one in the lead glowing the brightest. Arcs of electricity still danced across their bodies like tiny lightning, their ethereal forms glowing brightest where the ends made contact.

The Doctor and Rose followed them across the lounging room at a dead run. By the time the Zelshae made it to the first door on the left in the opposite hallway, all but the one were completely invisible. The last dim shape jumped _through_ the door, and the Doctor skidded to a halt.

It was the utility cupboard he had never been able to get into. The humming from beyond suggested it housed the power source for the entire mansion. Even as the Doctor and Rose stood outside, the humming began to increase in pitch.

"Can't you unlock it?" Rose asked, panting.

"With what? I wired everything I had into the fish trap!" the Doctor moaned.

The humming continued to grow in intensity, a spinning, whirring sound.

The Doctor realised with mounting dread what was happening. The Zelshae had been compromised, and their defense mechanism had them overloading the nearest steady source of power. If they didn't do something to stop it, the whole house was going to burn down with them trapped inside.

"Doctor! What are we going to do?"

The Doctor was staring at the door when it hit him. He fixed Rose with a look of desperation. "There's nothing else for it. We need Icha!"


	19. Memories

"Icha!"

The Doctor rushed through the foyer to the base of the stairs and looked up. He could faintly hear the overload mounting even from this far away. "Icha, come quickly!"

There was no response.

He yelled her name again and waited impatiently. Rose looked to him in bewilderment, and he met her wild expression. "Blimey, if I had known she was this dead to the world I wouldn't have bothered tiptoeing around! Icha! Get down here, you mangy stray!" Rose added her voice to his own, and despite their combined shouting, the Doctor still heard nothing but the distant humming.

"Doctor, what if she doesn't hear us? We can't get in that room without her!"

"I know, I know." He grimaced, knowing of one other way, but it wasn't going to be pleasant. "Here goes."

The Doctor bounded up the first few stairs, the furthest he had gone in the past. He went up further, past the point Rose had made it to before he had called her back. His eyes were on the top step, and as he approached, he suddenly lost track of it as his world became pain and screaming.

He was next aware of being lifted away from the edges of the steps by his arm. His collar was buzzing continuously, but it was no longer hurting him.

"Marwari! You know not to come up here!" Icha scolded sympathetically from just above him. "I told you what would happen. Is something wrong?"

The Doctor shook his head, attempting to clear it enough for speech. "Icha," he said, feeling strange saying her name in her presence, "You've got to come."

"What's Lily doing out of her room?" Icha asked as she peered past him down the stairs, her voice turning sour. "How did she get out?"

The Doctor growled, coming around enough to support his own weight and look Icha in the eye. "Nevermind that! Bring the key to the power room _now_, or we're all going to die when the generator explodes and the house collapses under the impact!"

"What...?"

"Just do it, Icha!" Rose piped in. "Believe it or not, he wants to save your life as well!"

Icha's eyes moved between them, her expression undecided between anger and disbelief. Finally she stood and ran, the tail of her fuzzy white robe swiping the Doctor in the face as she went.

Rose was there just beneath him on the staircase looking up at him uncertainly. He lowered himself down towards her a few steps, and his collar's vibrations ceased. He nodded towards her, and Rose moved up to help steady him. By the time they made it to the bottom, the Doctor had regained his sense of balance. Icha returned and hurried down the stairs, the ever-present remote in her right hand and a big iron loop in her left.

Relieved Icha had cooperated so quickly, the Doctor led the way as fast as he could without falling against a wall through the foyer and lounging room.

"What did you do now, Marwari?" Icha hissed.

"It wasn't me!" the Doctor retorted defensively. He thought of the Zelshae in the trap, how angry it had appeared. "Well, not in the end."

The three of them approached the door housing the unstable power unit. The whine was much louder now, and a strip of brilliant light shone out from underneath the door. In the lead, the Doctor stopped abruptly when the brightly glowing form of a Zelshae tumbled through the upper half of the door onto the floor, righted itself, then rushed back through.

"No...!"

The Doctor turned, and he stopped cold. Icha had almost always kept on a firm mask, and even though he had only seen it broken a handful of times, the flickers of fear he had seen before held nothing to the look of terror on her face now.

The keys clattered together as the black loop of iron hit the floor. "No! No, they can't be!" Icha pleaded, then shouted, "Leave me alone!"

Rose scooped up the keys and made for the door, but the Doctor caught her by the arm. "No, Rose, let me." He took the keys from her, not giving her time to argue. If the creatures were angry and lashed out, he didn't want Rose anywhere near them. "Icha, which key?"

Icha was staring at the door and didn't appear to hear him.

"Icha!"

When she didn't respond, the Doctor shook her. He was used to being in control, but over the past few weeks, he had given that up to the small cat woman now in his grasp. He had come to associate Icha as a power over him, and to reverse the conditions now was unnerving as much as it was freeing.

Icha blinked and stared at him in fear. He held up the keys in front of her face. "Which one?"

"Don't open it!" Icha snatched for the keys, but the Doctor was quicker.

"Don't be thick! You saw for yourself, the door's not holding them in. We need to get in and stop them from blowing the place up!"

She appeared to follow his reasoning, but the wild look in Icha's eyes told him she wasn't thinking rationally. He grasped Icha's shoulders again and searched her eyes, forcing her to look at him. "Icha, even with this collar, I know you've put a certain amount of trust in me all this time. You know I'm capable of more than you've let on. You know I don't want to hurt you." The Doctor shifted his gaze momentarily to meet Rose's. "Not really." He stressed his point with a squeeze. "Trust me _now_."

Icha judged him. The generator whined louder, higher. The Doctor could feel the very air thrumming with unreleased energy. The Zelshae were sucking energy across realities, about to create enough of a vacuum in this one to make a sizable and very real fireball. Icha's eyes moved from the Doctor's to the keyring, and she pointed.

"This one," she said in a voice barely audible over the terrible noise.

The Doctor separated the key and thrust it into the lock of the power room door. Twisting the key and handle, he flung open the door and stepped back, almost against the opposite wall. Blinding light and the scream of electricity flooded the corridor, and he was forced to halfway shield his eyes.

The power unit was just inside, but he could hardly make it out through the writhing mass of glowing ghostly bodies. The Doctor was shocked to find just how many there were in such a small space. Had they all been in the house, or were they attracted somehow from the street?

He registered Rose's presence next to him and quickly put a protective arm in front of her. He could see the switch, buried beneath the Zelshae. Because they were feeding, their substance in reality was well realised, and he wouldn't be able to reach through them. Even maneuvering between them would involve touching their exoskeletons, and since they were practically plugged into the power unit, it would be like sticking his fingers into a wall socket.

In the corner of the closet next to the door was a rubber-handled broom. The Doctor grinned.

"How we gonna stop them? We can't even get close to it!" Rose yelled into his ear.

"Ye of little faith!" the Doctor shouted back excitedly. He grabbed the broom and turned it upside-down. Reaching around the door, he pulled out the ring of keys and shoved the loop through the bristles of the broom. Gripping the handle in both hands, the Doctor let out an aggressive cry and thrust the end of the broom directly towards the switch.

The broom lodged between two Zelshae. At first, nothing happened. Then the two creatures closest wailed and flinched away, pushing the other Zelshae back. At the end of the broom, the Doctor could now see the keyring, red hot.

"Ha ha!" the Doctor laughed and began circling the broom end around the switch, widening the circle. "Sunlight through a magnifying glass! Bit too much, eh?" More Zelshae screamed and moved out of its way.

"What are you?" came the hissing, scratching words.

"I'm the Doctor," he threatened, elated to have his most potent weapon back. "If you mean these people harm, that makes me your worst nightmare." The Doctor knew he had to hurry, as the keyring would soon melt through the bristles. When the creatures were completely clear of the switch, the Doctor darted in. "Power off!"

The effect was instantaneous. The spinning, whining sound dropped sharply in pitch and volume to be replaced by the angry scratching of the Zelshae. The deep rumbling and pulsations through the air died away, and the now almost transparent creatures began leaping off the power unit and flooding into the corridor.

"You will regret this!" the Zelshae hissed and spit. Icha screamed and fell against the wall, dropping into a defensive ball as the dim orange outlines of the fishy bodies galloped past her and into the lounging room.

"After them!" the Doctor yelled. He and Rose followed the Zelshae into the foyer. They were forced to stop at the front door, the now barely visible Zelshae leaping through it and out of the house.

"What are they gonna do now?" Rose asked.

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, "but apparently I'm going to regret it. Come on, we've gotta get Icha to let us out."

They backtracked into the lounging room. Icha was there, dropping onto the edge of the sofa and staring at nothing. She lowered her head and began to cry. The Doctor approached, stopping in front of her.

"Icha, the Zelshae are about to do something nasty. You've got to let us out so we can stop them."

The cat woman ignored him, absorbed in her suffering. Rose put a hand to his arm. The Doctor took a deep breath, calming himself, and crouched down before Icha to look up into her lowered face. His instinct to submit fought against his knowledge of the danger they were in and the ignorance of her species. In the end, anger won out. "Icha, look at me."

"Be quiet, Marwari." Icha sniffed, her voice hardening. "That's enough talk from you."

"What's the harm in _listening_?" Rose retorted. Icha's eyes flashed, challenging Rose with a glare. She remained quiet, however, and didn't shock either of them.

"She knows exactly what harm listening can be, to her _and_ her society," the Doctor replied softly, and Icha turned her glare on him. "Listening means she has to acknowledge us as sentient beings. Equals." His voice turned bitter. "It's easier to deny the truth than to change."

Icha's glare flickered, and she dropped her eyes. Yes, she knew.

"You've seen the Zelshae before," the Doctor pressed. "When?"

Icha squeezed her eyes shut. She was very still a moment, then took in a shuddering breath and met the Doctor's gaze. Her eyes were clear and drawn, as if accepting defeat.

"Sixteen years ago," Icha said, her voice wavering. "I... lost someone."

The Doctor crouched a little taller. "Ureg. Your husband."

Tears welled in her eyes, and she nodded with a little sob. "Yes! He always worked late. One night, he came home..." Icha shook her head emphatically. "He wasn't himself. We fought. I was young, curious." She paused. "Suspicious."

"You followed him," Rose said.

Icha looked to Rose. "Yes. The next day, I watched him at the office. When the others went home and he stayed..." Fear flickered in her eyes and pulled at her words. "I never knew what they were called. Those monsters!" She stared at the Doctor, horrified. "They did to his mind what you tried to do to mine!"

The Doctor frowned. "What?" He thought back, trying to work out what she was talking about. She couldn't mean his trying to coerce her into anything. She didn't even let him speak! Unless... "Telepathy? They're telepathic?"

"He was in such pain," Icha wailed, the tears falling from her eyes. "He fell dead right in front of me!"

"Doctor..." Rose drew his name out, low in warning. He shot her a defensive look.

"What? I was only trying to disconnect her interface with the PCOS system. I wasn't gonna to kill her!"

Rose stepped up to the sofa and sat next to Icha, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Icha looked back at her, lost and confused.

"No more games," the Doctor said, drawing Icha's attention. "We can't do this anymore, Icha. The Zelshae are very real, and this entire outpost is in danger. You know they can kill. You also know that I'm capable of stopping them, don't you?"

For a long moment, Icha just stared down at him. Her eyes shone of honesty, as if finally accepting the Doctor for what he was. She nodded.

_Brilliant._ The Doctor held out his hand, exuding his sympathy for her loss. "You have to give me up, Icha. I can't do this as a slave. You have to let me go."

Her face contorted and tears began to fall again. Icha pulled in a shuddering breath and looked down at the remote in her hand. "I had such plans for you, Marwari."

Icha pulled her wrist free of the strap and placed the remote in the Doctor's hand.

The Doctor's hearts swelled in sudden relief. He pressed the remote to his collar, and the ring of metal clicked and fell open, dropping to the floor. He got to his feet with a deep breath and grasped the hoop around Rose's neck, unlocking it and pulling it free. Rose grinned happily.

Icha looked up at him with a pained expression from the sofa. The Doctor pulled her to her feet and enveloped her in a hug. Icha clung tightly to him and began to sob into his shoulder. Rose looked to Icha in pity and met the Doctor's eyes. She then stood and hugged both of them.

"Shh, shh, shh, it's all right," the Doctor soothed. He waited until she stilled somewhat and drew her away. The fur of her cheeks was matted with her tears. "I need you to be strong, now. We've got to catch up the Zelshae and stop them before they hurt anyone else."

"They're long gone, though," Rose said. "How would we know where to look?"

"Isn't it obvious? Where did they go to escape me the first time?"

"The generator." Rose's eyes widened. "My God, they're going to Zel Power?"

"It's a long way to run. We've got to get going. Icha, you've got to open the door for us."

"Hold on," Icha said and sniffled, some strength returning to her voice. She hurried into the foyer, but instead of unlocking the door, Icha ran upstairs.

The Doctor stood at the base of the steps, bewildered. After half a minute, he complained, "What's she doing?"

"Dunno," Rose said. "Maybe we should go up and find out."

He looked at Rose in surprise. "Right! I forgot!" He grinned like a loon and ran up the stairs, Rose following closely behind. Sure enough, nothing held them back, and the Doctor felt dual flutters of excitement in his chest.

The ceiling was lower than that of the floor below, but from what he could tell the floor was just as wide. Hallways curved to the side in both directions just off the landing, following the circular wall of the lounging room's upper half just below its dome. He led Rose down the left, passing many closed doors. Before he came halfway around, he stopped short as Icha stepped out from behind a door. She squeaked in surprise.

"You're not allowed up here!" Icha scolded.

"Oh, get over yourself. You wasted time _changing_?" he said incredulously, looking Icha up and down.

"I'm not about to go out in my robes, am I? Besides, you need this." Icha held up a key. A very modern key.

"Since when do you have a hover car?" he rebuked.

Icha frowned. "Since always!"

"And you never use it? Where is it? What about the party at Zel Power? We walked the whole way!" The Doctor nodded downward. "No trainers, thank you very much!"

"I don't know how to drive! It's Ureg's, been keeping it in the back shed. I'm not in the habit of letting pets drive!"

"Do you mind?" Rose interrupted crossly. "God, it's no wonder she shut you up. Can we get on with saving the world?"

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Icha's hover car rocketed down the street. Only a few other cars were out in the predawn light, all heading towards the center of town. The Doctor laid on the horn, swerving around a slow-moving early riser.

"Can you drive _anything_?" Rose complained.

"Oi, do you know how long it's been since I've driven a hover car?" the Doctor defended. "This one doesn't even have lateral stabilisers!" They sailed down the hill and quickly reached the center of town. The Doctor pulled the car to an abrupt halt outside Zel Power's main entrance and jumped out.

"Marwari! You're going to get my car towed!"

"Now is not the time to bother with the car park!" the Doctor shot over his shoulder. "And I'm not Marwari. From now on, call me 'the Doctor' like everyone else."

"Doctor who?" Icha asked, but he was already passing through the door.

The lighting within the atrium was low. The last time the Doctor had been here, the room had been full of people. He could hear and feel the powerful vibrations of the power system, whether it sounded louder due to its distress or the lack of people, he didn't know. The echoes of Icha's footfalls accompanied the hum as she and Rose followed the Doctor across the cavernous expanse towards an inner door on the opposite side. He noted the pass card entry security system and grumbled softly about needing his psychic paper, or even settling for his sonic screwdriver.

As they approached, the door opened and a black-furred man stepped out. He started when he saw the Doctor bearing down on him. The Doctor recognised him from the night of the party as the speaker. The man's surprise turned to shock when he looked to the Doctor's neck and saw no collar. "Where is your handler?" the man demanded. He peered behind the Doctor and saw Icha. "Ms. Nubien?" he said incredulously.

Icha made to open her mouth, but the Doctor interrupted dismissively. "Yeah, she's with me. I'm the Doctor, by the way. Sorry, didn't catch your name."

The slightly shorter man stared at the Doctor a moment and peered around him again. "Icha, what's the meaning of this? Why isn't he collared?"

"Mr. Drewsen, I--"

"Drewsen, lovely!" the Doctor announced. He got up into the cat's face, watching every whisker for his reaction. "Are you aware a horde of Zelshae are streaming in, intent on overloading Zel Power's generator?"

He couldn't see Drewsen turning pale through all the fur, but the man exhibited every other sign of discomfort. "I can't say I know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, thought as much." The Doctor pointed a line from the outer door to the inner door, across the floor. "They're probably running through right past us, right now if they're not already all in there, and they're not very happy with me."

"This is preposterous!" Drewsen roared.

"Are you the man in charge?" the Doctor challenged, making a show of suspicion. "Because if you're not, I'd really appreciate you taking me to the one in authority."

Drewsen straightened. "This is my plant. _My _city." His expression hardened. "And I don't tolerate meddlesome slaves, even if it's just one of Ms. Nubien's latest experiments in control!"

"I've released him!" Icha exclaimed, and all eyes turned to her.

"What? You can't just _release_ a slave!"

"Well, I have," Icha insisted, looking a bit uncomfortable as it seemed to sink in for her as well. "I saw the dreaded creatures myself. Ma--" She corrected herself and met the Doctor's eyes. "The Doctor's telling you the truth."

The Doctor turned to Drewsen, who was now silent and more receptive. "There you have it. You can't deny knowledge of the Zelshae. You've been feeding them for years from this place." When the black cat made to argue, the Doctor interrupted crossly. "Oh, come on, Drewsen! You oh so cleverly displayed your deformed excuse for a system on the viewer at the appreciation dinner. It wouldn't be designed in such a way if not to purposefully leak energy! No one objected, which means they're all in on it or they're not scientists, and I'm betting it's the latter. When were you going to tell them what it all meant? How long did you think you could keep it quiet?"

Icha turned a shocked expression on Drewsen, and his face slackened. She pleaded him with her eyes. "What's he talking about, Mr. Drewsen? Are we in danger?"

"It doesn't make sense, Doctor," Drewsen said in a much less aggressive tone. "The Zelshae wouldn't overload the generator! It would be suicide!"

"Nevermind that." The Doctor pointed past Drewsen. "I'm getting through that door, with or without your help. Either you're with me or step aside."

Drewsen bristled, defensive. "I will not allow such talk! Whoever you are, you have no right!"

The Doctor forcibly calmed himself. "Forgive me Mr. Drewsen, but there's no time for proper etiquette. The Zelshae are scared and probably unpredictable. I'd much rather have your support in this." His voice rose in volume until he was almost shouting. "Either way, I have to stop the Zelshae from wiping this settlement off the face of Paurin in the form of a very large blackened crater!"

Drewsen stared at him for a moment, assessing his sincerity. He then huffed and turned. The Doctor followed him, glancing behind himself to share a look with Rose and briefly Icha.

The black-furred man swiped his pass card. The door obliged him and clanked noisily as the heavy hardware pulled open the sealing mechanism. The four of them charged down the corridor beyond, Drewsen in the lead.

"I do what they tell me," he grumbled. "I've done what they've said all my life. _Decades!_ And how do they repay me? More, all they want is more! And now they're going to throw it all away?"

They passed several doors. Large endoglass panels revealed laboratories and offices, sparsely populated at such an early hour. As they neared the end of the long hallway, the ever present humming of the station grew louder--apparently abnormally so, as Drewsen picked up his pace. He quickly swiped his card, and as the heavy door opened, the deep rumble mounted in intensity, vibrating in the Doctor's ears and chest.

The bulk of the four-valve plasma fission's reactor filled the center of the five-story chamber. The floor had been modified and dropped away all around it, converted into a multi-landing setup making way for its growth down into the ground. The Doctor could see another landing across the way and below.

The generator's housing was completely enveloped by the glowing forms of the Zelshae.

"Santori's grace," Drewsen's uttered, barely audible over the drone.

The Doctor stepped forward. "Speak to me, Zelshae!" His voice echoed off the chamber walls.

"DOCTOR..."

He flinched. The combined volume of their scratchy, untested voices overpowered even the heavy thrum in the air.

"I know you don't want to do this. I don't want to destroy you, but you've got to stop interfering with these people. It's not the catkind's natural way to enslave other species."

There was a pause. Luminescent bodies skittered over the generator. "CAT... KIND... DO NOT SEE."

"Can't see you so well, worked that out, yes. What I don't understand is what influenced you to prey on them. Was it the Time War?"

There was another pause. "CAN NOT SPEAK... YOUR SPEECH. SHOW... YOUR MIND."

The Doctor stared up at the Zelshae, then nodded, steeling himself. "Fine, do it."

The four of them waited, watching. The Doctor was about to speak again when a glowing Zelshae leapt to the deck from floor level and crawled towards them. It looked smaller than the ones at Icha's house, and as it got closer, it began to visibly dull and fade. By the time it had reached the Doctor, it was hardly a dull orange outline.

"Doctor!" Rose called.

The Doctor held out a hand, alarmed, and the little Zelshae raised its two front legs, pointed like a spider's. "Hold on. How can I trust you? Be sure you won't harm me?"

"Show..." The fading Zelshae bobbed its front legs at him. Its voice was disappearing with its visibility. "Mind..."

"Doctor, what if it's a trap?"

The Doctor curled his lip, his mind racing. "I've got to try, Rose." He looked to her. "They fear me. I've got to give them a chance."

Rose gazed back at him, worry clear on her features, but she didn't protest. She knew he was right, knew he couldn't have it any other way.

He turned back to the Zelshae, but it was gone. No, of course it wasn't. It was there, now invisible, waiting for him. "All right," he consented, speaking to the space he had last seen it. He lowered himself to his knees, his jaw clenching nervously and his hearts thundering in his chest.

Nothing happened.

"It can't see you anymore," Drewsen said. "I have to be touching the generator for it to speak to me."

"DOCTOR," the cumulative voices from above spoke, and he looked up. "ZELSHAE FIND YOU BY YOUR POWER."

Of course. The Doctor looked to Rose, remembering how they had drawn the Zelshae in together. Closing his eyes, the Doctor tapped the flame inside of him. He breathed in deeply, burning just at the fringes for something the Zelshae could feed from.

Something solid and pointy pressed on his chest.

The Doctor opened his eyes. His inner energy arced up the Zelshae's leg and rippled over its form, conducting over its entire exoskeleton in its visible blue heat. Its other foreleg rose and touched his forehead, and he could feel the Zelshae probing into his mind. The Doctor shut his eyes and let it in.

Images began flashing before his mind's eye: Zelshae as far as he could see feeding from a herd of beasts; a temporal event racing across the sky; beasts falling dead, cold, powerless; hunger, no power to feed from anywhere; a long journey, cold and weak, mates fading out of existence in death; a bright world in the distance; heat, ravaging into it in desperation; catkind presenting themselves as suitable to control, manipulate.

The Doctor saw faces, snatches of words: people attempting to call out for help from their planet; the Zelshae hyper-stimulating power sources, even nervous systems in fear; Zelshae touching minds of catkind who begged them for mercy; Zelshae running in packs, herding every other species; Zelshae working with catkind to ensure their survival, persuading them to enslave the lesser races; hiding, being forgotten.

The little Zelshae learned of the Doctor, too. He projected his sincerity to the creature, his desire to save their species despite the harm they had inflicted. Their only fault in damaging the timeline was in an attempt to survive extinction they weren't yet meant for. If anything, due to his hand in the Time War, the fault was his. He assured the Zelshae he was capable of helping them, restoring them, but he could feel the Zelshae's anger.

Their balanced thread of communication began to tip. The Doctor panted with the exertion of maintaining control. "No," he whispered. The Zelshae was fanning the embers he had offered it to stay linked, and the Doctor started to burn uncontrollably from within. "No, don't!"

The more he resisted, the more eagerly the Zelshae seized dominance over him. His significant mental capacities were useless in fending it off as it clung viciously to his lifeline.

The Doctor cried out helplessly. He had trusted himself to a parasite and was powerless to stop the Zelshae from burning through his regenerative energy, straight through every last life he had left.


	20. Change

Chapter 20 - Change

In his panicked state, the Doctor registered movement out of the corner of his eye. Rose leapt forward and crashed into the Zelshae, and the Doctor fell onto his back. After a stunned moment, he gasped for breath and got an elbow under himself.

Rose was on all fours, staring at the Zelshae as it scrabbled to right itself. It turned towards both of them, still glowing from the Doctor's energy, and put its front legs up.

"Forgive Zelshae! Zelshae feed. Forgive!"

Rose backed away, collapsing next to the Doctor and fussing over him like a mother hen. "God, Doctor, for being so smart, you can be really stupid! Don't do that to me again."

"No promises," he replied in a small voice and winced.

With Rose's help, the Doctor got to his feet and looked down his nose at the little Zelshae. He struggled with the idea of helping a creature that had just betrayed his trust. Its reaction to its own mistake, however, supported the idea that it had been acting instinctually, saw the Doctor as capable, and wanted to remain on his good side. The Doctor was in a tight spot as his best course of action was to gain their cooperation through his offer, and he didn't make a habit of making promises he didn't intend to keep. "You know I can help," he shouted over the whine of the generator. "And you know what I want." The Doctor pointed at the generator. "Leave the reactor alone, and the Zelshae don't harm anyone else. Then we'll talk."

The small Zelshae didn't fade as every one of them had previously. Blue lightning continued to swirl around it, sustaining its presence in their reality.

"Doctor?" Rose spoke into his ear, touching his arm. "Why isn't it disappearing?"

He stared in wonder, his eyes wide with excitement. "Something about my regenerative energy allows it to keep feeding. Is it self-replicating? Fascinating! It's a shame other Time Lord biologists no longer exist to study this phenomenon. That Zelshae must be exhibiting tremendous willpower to keep away from me, which means it's hopefully very serious about saving its species."

"Doctor... catkind... slaves... safe," the nearby creature scratched out. "Zelshae stop."

The four people looked up as the swarm of glowing Zelshae began to crawl upwards off the generator and onto the ceiling in all directions.

"The Zelshae coexisted peacefully in a parasitic relationship with a species affected heavily by the Time War," the Doctor began, watching the creatures crawl further across the ceiling and become dimmer as they went. "It wiped them out. The few that survived had to search for a new source of power. A small number of them happened upon this tiny humanoid outpost. They immediately rendered Paurin's communications and power sources useless in their haste and desperation to survive. The people here didn't know how to cope." He remembered back to a book he had read. "I found out from Icha's library that catkind possessed a different brand of technology. It must have been more resilient, less affected by the Zelshae's introduction, and with the Zelshae's preference to manipulating the feline mind, they quickly came into power over the other races."

The Doctor met Icha's eyes. He could see fear in her earnest gaze. "Had the Zelshae not interfered, the humans would have remained dominant." He turned to Drewsen. "The Zelshae struggled to survive, lacking the strength to leave the planet for greener pastures. Attempts by the people to call out for help from Paurin were thwarted by the paranoid Zelshae. They even convinced a scientist to release a quarantine satellite to ward vessels away--all except the slave caravans, of course, which were in on it. The Zelshae worked on the minds of men like Drewsen, convincing them the lesser species must be enslaved to toil here at the plant so they could keep the Zelshae alive."

Drewsen turned his eyes downward in guilt, and the Doctor again looked to Icha.

"Not all humanoids other than themselves were suitable for working here, however, and the altered catkind mentality was strong, so some were kept as pets and breeders." The Doctor pinned Icha with a knowing look, and Icha swallowed guiltily. He turned to Rose. "By the way the catkind nuns demonstrated reasoning on New Earth, it's no wonder they could be pushed this far."

Rose nodded. "No kidding. I don't get it, though." Rose looked at their Zelshae contact. "How did people forget you? We've seen you several times and we haven't even been here a month."

"Catkind have a difficult time enough," the Doctor replied. "They usually stay hidden away so as not to be seen by the slaves. Generations have gone by, and sightings in the past have been attributed to slaves going mad, which has become considered an uncommon but natural affliction. That doesn't explain the recent increase in sightings, though, does it?"

The Zelshae bobbed a foreleg at him, still quite visible. "Brothers... careless... Doctor is power..."

As the last of the Zelshae moved off the reactor and stopped, the Doctor could see hundreds of incandescent eyes waiting, watching, and slowly fading out of sight. Suddenly, a familiar old sound resonated within his mind. He looked about in sudden haste.

"Doctor?" Rose queried. "What is it?"

"Oh, yes!" The Doctor grinned and ran across the platform and everyone chased after him, even the little Zelshae. The height of his excitement coursed through him as he circled halfway around the reactor, feeling completely alive. They came to a door, and the Doctor turned. "Mr. Drewsen, open this door!"

The man bristled once more. "Why should I? That area is none of your concern!"

"Oh, but isn't it?" he shot back in open accusation. "It's not even yours! When did you acquire it? About twenty days ago, am I right?"

Drewsen's whiskers twitched in discomfort. "How can you know that?"

The Doctor fixed him with a withering look and kept his voice firm. "Mr. Drewsen, if you want the Zelshae to leave, you'll open this door. The lives of every person in this settlement are in your hands. If I'm to transport the Zelshae, I need my ship."

Rose brightened, catching up with the Doctor's excitement. "Oh my God, it's _here_?"

"Mr. Drewsen!" Icha said crossly. "You learn slower than the thickest of pets! Do as he says!"

Drewsen's eyes bugged in surprise. The Doctor and Rose hid their mild amusement. Drewsen met each one of them in the eye and huffed, marching to the door and swiping his pass card.

As the door opened, the Doctor's blood ran cold.

The silhouette and paneled lines of a 1950's police box were clearly visible through the transluscent forms encasing it. The Zelshae glowed more brightly than the Doctor had seen yet as they fed off the TARDIS' energy. He couldn't imagine what would happen were the TARDIS to be active. Cables snaked around the small room in every direction.

The Doctor rounded on the lone Zelshae. "Get them off! _Now!_"

The Zelshae hissed at him.

"Don't give me that. This is my ship. It's how you're getting off this planet. Trust me, you're not flying her without me!"

There was a pause before the room became deafened with the angry hissing of Zelshae as they crawled off the TARDIS to wait restlessly along the walls.

The Doctor stormed forward and began throwing cables clear. "Look at this mess! Not a clue what you were doing. Where did you find her?"

"Came in with the last slave ship," Drewsen muttered. "Paid a small fortune for it. Same caravan you came on, I'm guessing?"

The Doctor nodded. "Sounds like it. Don't worry, Mr. Drewsen, your small fortune just saved your entire population on Paurin."

"No more food..." the little Zelshae complained. "Doctor help Zelshae now!"

"Working on it! No need to get tetchy." The Doctor circled the blue wooden box, checking to make sure everything was in order. He stopped before the double doors that made up the front side and patted where his right trouser pocket should have been out of habit. "Ah. Right, um." He looked to Rose sheepishly. "Don't suppose you have your key on you?"

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Doctor strolled into the shoppe, triggering the electronic bell. Vicks blinked into the morning rays slanting through the doorway and recognised him, Rose, and Icha. His eyes widened when he saw Drewsen, and he about fell off his chair at the sight of the Zelshae.

"Wh-what's this? Mr. Drewsen? N-no collars? What is _that?_" The brown-coated man pointed a shaking finger at the Zelshae.

"Oh, don't mind him. I named him Rover." The Doctor paused for effect. "Nah, I'm being facetious." He leaned forward, enunciating profusely. "Zelshae don't make proper pets _either_!"

"Good sir," Drewsen implored impatiently. "The Doctor claims you have something of his. It's of the utmost importance you return it to him!"

The Zelshae hissed in anxious agreement.

"Wh-what?"

"My clothes. I'm told slaves are delivered as is, which means you have them. Brown coat, brown suit." He waggled a finger at Vicks. "All stripey like you, remember? The suit, not the coat."

"Um..." Vicks swallowed nervously as he worked to get his brain to cooperate. "Um, I don't have them anymore. I sold them!"

The Doctor groaned. "Who to?"

Vicks winced, uncomfortably aware of the mob of angry people in his shoppe. "The clothier! I send her all the rubbish--err, very fine clothing from... err, some poor, some very nice like yours, I'm sure... slave stuff, she takes it all at a discount price!"

"_Where?!_" they all shouted at once.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The TARDIS rocked sharply to one side, throwing Rose to the grillework. The Doctor managed to stay upright only by clinging to the console's wormhole refractor at the last moment. The TARDIS stabilised, and he blew out a breath and looked down at Rose, offering her a hand up. "You all right?"

"Yeah." Rose accepted and stood, dusting herself off. "Still can't drive, I see."

The Doctor frowned. "I'd like to see you try flying her with four hundred phasmic kinetivores chewing on her plasmic shell."

"I'll pass, thanks." Rose tugged her top straight. "At least you got your clothes back."

"We got lucky!" The Doctor beamed and looked down over his slim striped suit, which fit him like a glove thank you very much. "My key was right where I left it. Can you believe the woman hadn't gone through the pockets yet?"

"Yeah, if she had, she probably would have had to open up another shoppe just to sell off everything in them."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "You saying my pockets are full of rubbish?"

Rose cocked her head as if he had stated the obvious. "Laa-Laa the Teletubby?"

The Doctor glanced sideways. "Apart from that." Rose threw her hands up, and he scowled. "What's wrong with being prepared? You never know when a can of jet fuel will come in handy. What if you needed a getaway vehicle and found a jet, but it had no fuel?"

"And what if while being knocked about in your pocket it, I dunno, exploded?" Rose asked offhandedly.

"It's bubble-wrapped!"

Rose sighed. "Why didn't she have my clothes there, too?"

"Let's be honest, Rose," the Doctor said matter-of-factly. "Yours are less important. They don't have dimensional pockets." He looked her over. "You've got plenty more in your wardrobe just like the one you've got on." The Doctor looked down at her shoes. "You even have extra trainers! If you really want that same outfit, I'll buy it again. Where was it from, Henrick's?"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "You mean the one you blew up?"

The Doctor gestured at the time rotor as if instructing a child. "Well then we'll go to _before_ it blew up."

"Right." Rose nodded curtly. "Just make sure it's in the morning before I went to work. I wouldn't wanna run into myself."

"Fine!" the Doctor exclaimed as if it was settled. Rose leaned casually on the console and stared at him. He frowned. "What now?"

She gazed at him imperiously, and he suspected she had been leading him on and never intended to drop it in the first place. "Don't you think my TARDIS key in the hands of ignorant cat people is just as important as your dimensional pockets?"

The Doctor tugged at his ear in thought, then sighed. "We'll go back for them," he drawled in defeat.

The TARDIS shook, and this time, Rose hung on.

"No, no, no! Stop it!" The Doctor growled as his ship continued to shake violently. "Gluttonous fools, they're throwing off the time differential." He wrestled with the controls, and it was clear a soft landing wasn't going to be an option. "Hold on tight!"

The TARDIS reeled, and despite expecting it, even the Doctor was thrown to the floor. He promptly picked himself up and peered at the monitor. "There now, off you go," the Doctor murmured softly and watched as the Zelshae scattered across the plain. Rose sidled up next to him and peered at the screen. "Don't repeat history and kill the locals and you'll all get along just fine."

"What if they do, though? Kill the locals."

"Then I'll be back to slap their wrists." He met Rose's eyes. "They're beasts, megafauna. They can handle it. The Zelshae should fill a niche quite nicely here."

Rose fussed at her lip. "You don't know that they will. What if it goes wrong?

The Doctor straightened. "If the Zelshae muck it up, I'll be back for them, and they'll have to answer to me. I don't think they're eager for that to happen."

"But the damage will already be done."

He took Rose by the arms and regarded her seriously. "This is what I do, Rose. And no, I'm not perfect, but what other option is there? I do the best that I can." Rose nodded, knowing what he said was true. "We'll check on them later and go from there. Okay?"

"Yeah." She offered him a small smile, and he smiled back.

"Good! Now, let's go see Icha."

Rose moaned as the Doctor began flipping levers and pushing buttons. "Do we have to?"

"Aren't you interested to see how they're getting on without the Zelshae? Let's say... ooh, a week's time?" The Doctor pumped the helmic regulator, and Rose shrugged and cheered a bit.

"Yeah, I guess I kinda am. I just don't wanna be a slave again."

"You and me both."

The TARDIS materialised on Paurin much more softly than it had their previous destination. The Doctor stepped out into the shade of a nearby thicket of trees. He looked down at his trainers in the purple grass, remembering what it felt like under his bare feet while chasing Rose across it. While it was a bittersweet memory, he was satisfied to keep his shoes on for now.

Rose slipped out the door behind him and smiled as she recognised their location. She pointed at the stand of trees. "Is that...?"

"Yep." The Doctor smiled at her and took her hand in his. "Shall we go take a proper look?"

The Doctor and Rose strolled between the two trees at a leisurely pace, the familiar sight whispering to the Doctor that they shouldn't be there, but with no collars, the little voice held no threat. They stood in the short pink plants and gazed at the fountain around the tree roots, watched the fish, and again attempted to catch sight of the elusive bird that also favoured the small grove. The Doctor waited contentedly until Rose was ready to leave, and they walked back out into the garden, hand in hand.

Icha was stood next to the TARDIS peering anxiously at it. She smiled in relief at the sight of them, but her expression grew muted as they drew near, and the Doctor thought she seemed rather self-conscious. The Doctor and Rose stopped before her, and for a moment, none of them knew what to say.

The cat woman was dressed for outdoors. She pulled at her handbag and looked the Doctor up and down. "Hardly recognised you," she finally admitted. "It suits you."

The Doctor offered her a crooked grin. Icha had learned at some point how to maintain compliance in her pets without resorting to cruelty. She showed him she could accept change, even when it hurt and was against everything she knew. It was enough that the Doctor had come to even respect her.

"Why did you buy me?" Rose asked, breaking the silence. Both Icha and the Doctor looked to her, surprised. "You didn't want to, but you did." Rose shuffled her feet. "How come?"

Icha looked back and forth between them. "Well, I suppose..." She fidgeted a moment, but then she apparently decided time was too short to be coy. "I wanted Marwari to be happy. I couldn't bear to see him lose the one he loves, even if it meant sacrificing..." she stopped herself, and the Doctor read the rest in the look she gave him. Icha glanced away, shaking her head as if she were upset with herself. "I don't know why I cared so much for you. I wanted so much to give you what you wanted. I hated disciplining you. And I suppose..." She breathed in a cleansing breath and met his eyes again. "Giving her to you was a way of appeasing my heartbreak over my Ureg." Icha lowered her eyes, collecting herself, and gazed off into the distance. "We used to spend time here. Since he's been gone, my gardens have been a lonely place. But now," she grinned wistfully at the Doctor, "I have new memories of young love to replace them."

The Doctor decided not to correct Icha on her opinion of his age, feeling a bit self-conscious himself. He shifted his weight and sighed, nodding towards the house. "I've been meaning to ask you, what happened to all the people here? You didn't always live here alone, just the two of you, did you?"

Icha shook her head and followed his line of sight, inviting the change of subject. "We had quite a few pets, hosted lots of parties for families that worked at Zel Power. They needed more and more slaves, started accepting those less adept for the tasks, and we sold many of them to help where we could. After Ureg was killed," she paused, "I was melancholy. I didn't find joy in socialising as I once did." She smiled at the Doctor. "I was drawn to your energy."

The Doctor smiled back. "Well, the Zelshae are partly at fault for that. Everyone here should find themselves a bit peppier without their draining effect." He nodded to Icha. "You should get out more. Socialise again. Let friends help you overcome your sadness." He shook his head. "You don't need slaves."

Icha nodded readily. "The quarantine has been lifted. Anyone of any race who wants to leave Paurin is being offered free transport. Those that wish to stay are being given equal rights. People are being given wages to work at Zel Power, to help shut down what's no longer needed and convert it to what it should be. It's going to take some time, but Mr. Drewsen is already doing a fine job of teaching others about how Paurin was really founded, what we can be again." Icha opened her handbag and pulled out a book, giving the Doctor a cheeky smile. "I thought you might like this."

The Doctor looked at the book in surprise and took it, sporting a broad grin. _Paurin, a History_. "I would, yes!"

Icha winked at him. "You were wonderful, Doctor. I'm sorry for the sorrow we've put on both of you. I loved having you here, but you know what?" Icha's face lit up, her expression more excited and beautiful than the Doctor had ever seen. "You're even more incredible wild!"

The Doctor beamed.

"Oh, you have no idea," Rose added. The Doctor chuckled, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.

Icha stepped forward and gave the Doctor a hug. He returned it, daring to give her a squeeze of encouragement.

"Be brilliant. Live life to its fullest."

"I will," Icha promised into his shoulder. "For you."

The Doctor pulled back, resting his hands on her shoulders. "No. For you."

Icha faltered, then nodded. She then turned to Rose and hugged her. Rose accepted it politely, and Icha drew away, addressing them both. "Will I ever see you again?"

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe. Probably not."

Icha nodded somberly. "Well then, I won't wait, but I will hope."

The Doctor nodded. "Goodbye, Icha."

Without hesitation, the Doctor turned and stepped into the TARDIS, Rose following closely behind and closing the door. The Doctor bounded up to the console and tossed the book onto the captain's chair, fully intending to read it later. He circled around flipping switches, back in his element. The TARDIS groaned and whined, disappearing from Icha's sight somewhat like a phasmic creature would, but unlike the Zelshae, the ship left Paurin altogether. It left a flattened patch of grass the size of a phone box and fell into a comfortable spin through the Time Vortex.

"I'm surprised she didn't ask how we knew her language."

"Yeah." The Doctor looked up from the controls with a grimace on his face. "You think telling her I'm omni-lingual would've come off as a bit conceited?"

Rose trailed a finger along the console's edge as she sauntered towards him. "You, conceited? Nah."

The Doctor watched her, appreciating how Rose curved in all the right places. He flashed a look that made her stop in her tracks. Coming around, the Doctor crowded Rose against the console, lifting her onto its edge. He only just allowed her to gasp in a breath before besieging her mouth in a smothering kiss. The Doctor lost himself in their connection, expressing with every fervent motion how much she meant to him. Rose responded heatedly in perfect counterbalance, each of them physically testing the other.

It was clear neither wished to acquiesce, and while harboured safely within the Vortex, there was nothing to break them apart. The Doctor's immediate perception of time was fuzzy, and even though they were likely going on ten minutes, he felt perfectly content to continue just as they were. By the time Rose discordantly prodded him away, the pair of them were panting heavily, and every pull of her now sweetened scent through his nose threatened to compromise all cognitive thought.

Rose rested her forehead against his. "Doctor," she managed huskily between breaths, "There's something we need to do."

Everything about her was calling to the selfish part of him, but as he spared a moment to think, the Doctor forced his blood to a low simmer. "You're right," he agreed, his voice graveled. He pulled his head away to look into Rose's eyes. "Really though, what's a couple hours' wait in a time machine?"

He knew it was a stupid thing to say the moment he'd said it. The Doctor groaned in annoyance as Rose gave him a critical eye. He knew what she was thinking because the same thing was bothering him. Carefully, the Doctor set Rose's feet on the floor and willed his mind to task as he busied himself with setting the TARDIS on a new course. "I know, we're not finished yet. Here we go."

Rose was watching him as the TARDIS began to move with purpose. She gave him an impish grin. "You're cute when you're bothered."

The Doctor flushed. "Right, we're doing this. Then we're making use of this bigger-on-the-inside TARDIS and playing a proper game of tag." He leveled a finger at her, his tone emphatic. " And then, young lady, there's not a corner within this ship from which you can hide from me!"

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The sun was setting, so it was difficult to make out the two people on the overlooking hilltop. Eli squinted. It _had_ to be them! She couldn't get any closer to make sure, but the man was wearing a brown suit just like the one she remembered.

The distinctly feline wail of a child drew Eli's attention to the small figure running towards her.

"I fell down!" Shasa cried and pointed to her spotted knee.

"Oh, there there, come here. Let me see." Eli took the child in her lap and made a show of scrutinising Shasa's fur. "Where are you hurt?" She pointed. "Is it this spot? Or maybe this one?"

Shasa stopped crying, fighting a smile.

"Or maybe it's all the spots! Oh no, look at all the hurts you have, all over your body!"

The little girl giggled. Eli hugged her and smiled. "Your father will be home from work soon. Go play for now, and when he gets here, you can show him all your spots, okay?"

"Yes Miss Eli." Shasa hopped down and ran off.

Eli looked back up at the hill, but the two people were gone. She sighed and wondered if she would ever see them again.

"Mummy?" Eli looked down to see Getch peering up at her with excited eyes. "Is my birthday yet?"

"Almost!" Eli exclaimed. "Tomorrow, sweetie! How old will you be?" Getch grinned widely and held out his little hand. Eli held up hers to match. "That's right, five!"

Getch jumped up and down. "Then I protect you!" he announced and pointed carefully to one of the spikes on his face.

"And you'll do a wonderful job at it, too," Eli agreed and nodded behind him. "Just remember, play gently with the other children so you don't hurt them. They need your protection, too."

The little Vemenor boy puffed up his chest and turned on his heel, marching back towards his mates. Eli grinned proudly and surveyed the scene, making sure everyone was getting along.

Eli sighed happily as she watched. Getch was lucky to be alive. So was Eli, all thanks to the Doctor. According to Mr. Drewsen, _everyone_ owed him their lives.

One of these days, she would find the courage to tell someone she had met him his first day as a slave. It was embarrassing to acknowledge the Doctor had turned down her request for a child, and Eli was quite sure no one would believe her anyway.

In a way, though, the Doctor _had_ given her a child. Eli grinned in amusement as Getch ran across the yard, chasing a flying insect away from a group of girls. She would always remember what the Doctor did, and in his honour, Eli would pass on his love through Getch.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

THE END

Wow, big day for me! This story is inspired by the infinite number of sources within my past, but I can think of a few that stand out. Tardis-mole's "Revenge" version 1, Zephyrhawk's "Behind Closed Doors, "Fayth3's "Games of the Orally Fixated" and "Koherence", .sheep's "Changes", and Spoon1899's "Connection" all hosted on the Fanfiction dot net website, and the official audiobook "The Feast of the Drowned" read by Tennant himself. Also of course we have to thank the classic _Planet of the Apes_. If you're curious about the fic references, I invite you to ask about them, or go read them yourself. =)

It's common to take one's freedoms for granted. I dedicate this story to Kyle, and all other members of armed forces that put their lives at risk to help keep civilized countries safe from people who challenge their freedoms. Kyle, I hope this story has helped you through some difficult months. =)


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